The Armor of the Soul
by Dixxy Mouri
Summary: Sequel to RSL and CoC. The Senshi finally learn about Anubis' dark past and the existance of the Ronin Warriors. In the meantime, Trulpa has something BIG up her sleeve, and this time it may be the end for Sage, Cye, and Kento. OBSOLETE but still COMPLETE
1. Chapter One

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter One: Bloody Messages

(Ria)

My name is Ria Carmichael. I'm a fifteen year old Virginia native currently located in Boston, Massachusetts. I've got short red hair with charred ends, green eyes, and an amazing story. So amazing that you might not believe me at first.

My story began last year, when I was fourteen and my Great Aunt Sally and I were moving out of our cramped apartment and into a more comfortable cottage. I found two things that changed my life. The first thing was my pet, Tiger Lily. Tiger Lily is like all other pets in that she's friendly, loyal, and needs to be fed and taken care of. She's different because she's a full grown Siberian tiger. Yup, a tiger.

The other thing I found was a red marble that turned out to be an armor orbe, a device I can use to call apon the Wildfire of the Senshi, a powerful armor I use to battle evil. That's why I'm also known as Ria, Wildfire of the Senshi. I'm one of the five Ronin Senshi. As the Senshi of fire, I'm expected to lead the other four on our suicide missions to protect the Mortal Realm from Trulpa and the Evil Dynasty.

Trulpa is an evil demon woman who's well over a thousand years old. She's from the Nether Realm where she commands her massive empire, the Dynasty. So far we've only faced her four favorite generals, the Dark Warladies, and her mindless henchmen, the Tin Cans. Oh, and we've fought her, too. But it took the powers of all five of us to create the Inferna, a cool armor with a ton of power that I can weld to take down massive evils like Trulpa. We think there's more out there, but we aren't looking forward to meeting them yet.

But we aren't alone. Anubis is our trusted friend, teacher, and ally. He's over four hundred years old, but he surprisingly only looks about twenty or twenty-one. Anubis is the current bearer of the Ancient One's staff, a golden walking stick with six rings and some cool decorative do-dads, that can do some seriously cool magic. The Ancient One is the guy who created our armors and originally defeated Trulpa. But he died and Anubis was his only student, so he got stuck training us.

Then there's Mike and Sue Lee. Mike is a graduate student that had what used to be our greatest resource for information on the armors, but has since been replaced by Anubis' scrolls. He's still a good friend for moral support and lets us use his home for housing purposes and meetings. Sue Lee is a sweet little girl whose mother he was a good friend with. After Sue Lee's mother perished in a car crash, Mike found that he was entrusted with her in her mother's will.

That's basically everyone who's a help, aside from the other Senshi and our families. I'll introduce them later. First, I gotta get into this story.

~

It all started a few months after we'd defeated Trulpa in our first war with her. While Anubis was still insisting the war wasn't over, we were all skeptical in one way or another. Me, I guess I was a little less skeptical, since when I dealt her the final blow she did say she'd be back, but I still thought it was getting to a point where she wouldn't come back. Maybe she gave up?

Anyways, it was in mid-May when the second war began. I happened to be enjoying a long, relaxing soak in a nice, warm bubble bath. I was humming to myself, letting the strawberry and cream scent from the water relax me. Since the war, I began to understand more and more how precious life was and how it was something you couldn't waste. Every chance I got I took a bubble bath or watched a sunrise, since I didn't know if I'd ever get another chance to. I know the other Senshi did that, too. They took extra time to spend with their families, did more things, and spent less time doing boring, repetitive tasks.

Suddenly, I felt a chill enter the bathroom. I shivered, looking back down into the bubbles. "Maybe I'd better go get dressed," I mumbled, not really happy with the premature ending of my bath. I stood up and reached for the drain plug, pulling it out. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my bare torso and stepped out onto the warm, fuzzy bath mat. After brushing my teeth and gargling, I left the bathroom to proceed into my bedroom.

Once I stepped inside I went over to the dresser and glanced casually up at the mirror. I stepped back and nearly tripped over a loose article of clothing (okay, my room's a mess, big whoop). There, in the mirror, was my name written in thick, running blood. I wasn't sure what to do. 

Without even bothering to get so much as a bathrobe, I darted downstairs in my towel and quickly picked up to the phone. I dialed the first number that came to me and dialed it. I didn't even remember whose number it was. I just hoped it was another of the Senshi's.

"Hello?"

Phew. Thank the Lord it was Rona.

Rona Santana is also known as Rona, Strata of the Senshi, being the Senshi of the Winds, Sky, and Song. According to Anubis, she's the first Ronin of Latin decent, which he kept looking up to see if it was some sort of a sign. Rona was the oldest in our little group as well as the resident female Casanova, chef, and genius. And the only one who rides a motorcycle. Don't think she's perfect, though; she's a horrible athlete (minus archery and running) and tends to be a little more skeptical than the rest of us at times. 

"Rona, it's me, Ria," I said.

"Ria? Is something wrong? Are you okay? You sound like you're ready to cry!" she said.

"I am!" I said. "Rona, I'm so scared!"

"I'll come right over, don't go anywhere!"

~

"Whoa," said Rona. This was the first I'd been in my room since I'd called Rona. I'd gotten dressed in the basement, my clothes straight from the dryer. Still, I was nerve wracked and didn't really want to go back inside there.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I don't know, but we should bring Keisha or Anubis in here," said Rona.

I stared at Rona. "Anubis is NOT coming in my room! Sally will flip!"

"Well no kidding, that's why we're going to bring Keisha over here!" said Rona.

Keisha Narrlobi is our psychic. To our enemies, she's Keisha, Hardrock of the Senshi, drawing her powers from not only the psychic world but also the earth and the spirits of the Earth. Like Rona, she's the first of her ethnic group (Keisha's African American) and unlike Rona, she's an exceptional athlete. And since Keisha wasn't male, Sally would allow her into my room.

"Now we just gotta call her," said Rona. "I can't figure this out at all."

"You're more of a logical thinker anyways," I said. "Keisha's the mythical thinker, Sara and Sam are the quick, creative, and destructive thinkers, and I'm the leader."

"Ha, ha," said my pink haired friend. "Let's just give Keisha a buzz and let her figure this one out, okay?"

"Fine," I said. "But this is creepy. You think Trulpa's finally bouncing back?"

Rona took on a serious tone. "I wouldn't be surprised if you're right, Ria. We need to keep on our toes."


	2. Chapter Two

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Two: The Second War?

(Rona)

My name is Rona Santana, but Ria already introduced me, so we don't need to go over that. Smart, flirty, good cook, blah, blah, blah. We all know that. So let's get onto the next thing.

Since Ria was still a bit out of it, I called Keisha, Sam, and Sara. We might as well have all the Senshi here for this to get a few extra inputs into the situation. Who knows, maybe Sara and Sam had some good ideas.

Sara Lewis is known to our enemies and allies as Sara, Torrent of the Senshi. Her specialty is water and to some extent ice and water vapor, and disposing of Nether Spirits. She's the smallest and youngest of our mutant Girl Scout troop, so we kind of worry about her, but she's just as aggressive as the rest of us, if not more. She's also the most foreign to Boston, having moved here from Hawaii just before we awaken to our powers. 

Samantha Thomas, Sam for short, is our hot-headed jerk. She's also my best friend, but hey, no one's perfect. Sam is tall, strong, and from Australia. The reason for her being a jerk is because she went through a mortifying experience as a little girl, watching her father brutally murder her mother. I don't blame her for being cold. Her aunt Ella keeps hoping that someday she'll learn to trust again, but so far, little progress has been made.

"Creepy," said Sara, looking at the mirror. The five of us were gathered in Ria's room, Ria looking very nervous. I sat next to her on her bed while the other three tried to make out what they thought of the blood on the mirror.

Keisha sighed heavily. "Whatever did this is gone now," she said. "But there was definitely a dark presence here."

"What kind?" I asked.

"Probably a Nether Spirit," Keisha answered. "Yeah, it's nothing new and interesting, but at least we know what it is."

"Are you kidding me!? There are Nether Spirits in our homes!" said Sam. "Yeah, they're starting with blood on the mirror, but what next? Frying eggs on the kitchen counters? Possessing our loved ones? Using telekinesis to throw knives?"

Sara blinked. "Sam has a point there. We gotta figure out how to keep them out of our homes before one of us or our loved ones get hurt. We gotta go to Anubis for this one."

~

"Wards for your homes?" said Anubis. We'd gone to Mike's place to find Anubis, since Anubis was currently residing there. He was in his room, going processing more of his scrolls into his computer. Since Anubis had become familiar with the machinery, he'd decided that it would be easier to access the legends if he typed them into the processing unit and backed them up.

The Ancient might have been proud. Or angry. I don't know which.

"Yeah. Ria's house was invaded by a Nether Spirit that wrote her name in blood," said Keisha. "At least that's what I'm pretty sure it was."

"That's probably correct, Keisha," he said. "But the important thing to do is, as you guessed, ward your homes, although they probably only want to hurt you and not your loved ones."

"Still, Ella will have a heart attack if she sees death threats with my name on them," said Sam.

Anubis sighed heavily. "That's a given, Sam. Let me see, I've already gotten the wards file on the computer." He closed out of the document he was working with and went through his files searching for the document on wards. "Let's see. . . no, no, not that, ah! Here it is."

"What's it say?" I asked.

"It says that you need to have Sara scratch a block of woods with her dagger and place it somewhere important, like-"

"The kitchen?" asked Sam.

"No, a mantle or a trophy case," said Anubis. "Kitchen?"

"I'm hungry," said Halo of the Senshi.

I laughed. "Sam!"

Sam blinked. "What? I haven't eaten since breakfast," she said.

"Oh," I said. "C'mon, I'll take you to the Pru for a quick bite to eat."

"The rest of us will stay here and help Sara make her warding blocks," said Ria.

~

The next day, we all had the pieces of wood. Mine was on the mantle. Sure, my dad wasn't thrilled about it, but I told him it was the wood or a creepy, horror movie-like message written on the mirrors. Since my dad is big on cleanliness, he didn't argue.

Still, it would be a lie to say I wasn't at least a little spooked. What had happened to Ria was frightening and a definite sign the Dynasty was back. Or at least coming back. I wasn't exactly thrilled about it.

The last time we fought Trulpa, I went through a personal, terrifying experience. Trulpa's Warlady, Anubra, captured me and brought me to Trulpa. A short while later I was possessed with Nether Spirits. For what seemed like an eternity I was in a dark, nothingness, surrounded only by Nether Spirits. Sara freed me with her powers eventually, but I was still nerve wracked from it. Especially after I found out that my possessed form had kidnapped Keisha.

It didn't seem real to me, I guess, until I saw Keisha possessed. She looked so, different. Hardrock of the Senshi used to look brave and honorable, but the murkiness of the Nether Spirits made it look so much more. . . evil. Even after both of us were freed, our subarmors still bear the blackened legs. When I asked Anubis is we could be possessed a second time, he said he wasn't sure. It could be something like chicken pox that you get once and then you don't get it again, or, if it was something like the flu that you could get again fairly easy.

"Rona?" I looked up to see my father walking over to me. He sat down on the arm of the chair I'd plopped into and put his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm nervous," I said.

"Why?" he asked.

I still didn't look up at him. "Fighting the war, I guess, was like how Aunt Julia described giving birth. The first time you don't know what to expect and you're not that scared, but the second time you know what to expect. And sometimes it's worse."

"Aunt Julia had Cousin Henry and then the twins, of course she was nervous, Rona Maria," he said. "But you survived. Yes, you had a few bad experiences, and I may never know what you went through, but you've learned from your mistakes and you'll know how to avoid them next time around."

"But this time it's getting closer to home. Ria found her name written in blood on her dresser mirror," I said.

"I know, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. The point is you have to do this. I'm proud of you for all you've done and I'm sure you're mother is very proud of you from heaven," said my father.

"You think so?" I asked.

"Of course!" said my father. "Come now, I'll make us tacos, ground beef, just like you like them."

"Mmm," I said. "Can I help?"

"Of course!" said my father. The two of us went into the kitchen and started on dinner.


	3. Chapter Three

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Three: The Demon Arises

(Ria)

The next few days were uneventful, aside from school. A kid puked in the hallway, Rona's lab partner blew up one of the science labs and both got detentions for a week (Rona was probably flirting with him), Keisha broke another track record, Sam got into fights, the usual. No messages in blood, no Tin Heads, it seemed like maybe it was a false alarm.

It didn't stop us from keeping on our toes, though.

The eye opener happened on my walk home from school. I was thinking over the math test I had the pleasure of studying for when I felt a chill run up and down my spine. I knew my armor was reacting. I turned my head a few times and a saw a shadowy figure in the alleyway. Wildfire of the Senshi nearly took control. 

Once I was sure it was just me and the shadowy figure, I casually walked across the street towards it, acting as if I didn't notice. 

"You can't fool us, Wildfire girl."

I froze. Yup. The Dynasty was back. I shook.

The figure, which I still couldn't clearly see any distinctive figures aside from the fact it wore a hat and a trench coat, laughed. Its voice was an echo, kind of like there was more than one person talking. He (I assumed it was a he) reached out for me. I yelped and leapt away.

"What are you!?" I demanded.

"You will know in great time, our dear Senshi- GAH!" The demon clutched its head and fell to the ground, moaning in pain. What had caused it?

"What the heck?!" I asked.

"Stupid. . . pests. . . AH!" cried the demon, suddenly seeming much better. "Now, where were we? Oh yes, Mistress Trulpa has sent us here to destroy you and your friends."  
"It won't happen, weirdo. We're stronger than that!" I said. 

He laughed. "Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever, we think we'll just kill you now."

I thought about what he said for a fraction of a second before I bolted.

~

"Why did you run?" asked Sam. We had all since gathered at the Quincy Market cafeteria. We all had drinks and junk food while we discussed what had happened to me on the walk home from school.

"Hey, if I got into a fight with him some innocent people could get hurt, and if I just let him kill me. . ." I said.

Rona took another sip of her smoothie. "I'm going to say that whatever that thing was, Mr. Trench Coat, has not only a connection to Trulpa, but probably a connection to your mirror," she said. 

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Sara took another chip. "What she means is that you royally ticked off Trulpa, so now she's sending some Dynasty hit man to scare the crap outta you before it kills you. We gotta kill it, first."

Sam grinned. "Sounds like a plan, to me."

"That wasn't a plan, that was a task definition," said Rona.

I looked over at Keisha, who had remained oddly quiet. "Key?" 

"I, I felt, it, again," she said.

All of our heads turned. When Keisha had been captured, she'd felt a presence in the Dynasty that she said she contacted with her psychic powers. At first she thought she was crazy, but we didn't want to throw out any possibilities. "Are you sure?" asked Sara.

"Earlier today, after I got home from school, but, it was different," said Keisha. "I know it was the same thing, but something had happened to it. Something bad."

Roan shrugged. "Maybe . . . I can't think of anything."

"That does us good," mumbled Sam.

"Guys, we need to concentrate on Trulpa's new ally. We haven't got any idea how dangerous he is, so we need to find out as much as we can," said Keisha. "I'll figure out what I felt later."

"Are you sure?" asked Sara.

Keisha nodded. "Ria, tell us again what he looked like."

"I told you, all I saw was the outline of a trench coat and a hat!" I said. I was getting frustrated with this new enemy, and my friends weren't helping!

"Okay, okay, let's just wait for him to come back and get our own look at him," said Sam, holding up her hands defensively. "Let's all just go home and sleep on it."

~

The following day, after Rona and Sam got off of detention (Sam being in for, surprisingly, getting to one of her classes late), we all took my regular path home, half hoping we'd run into him, half hoping we'd avoid him all together. A few people looked at the nervous group of girls walking down the street, but most just ignored us. Eventually we were passed the busy streets and onto the dead quiet side roads that led to my house. 

"Well, look's like we've avoided that unpleasant visitor," said Sam. She sighed heavily. "Now what?"

"I don't know," said Keisha. "Call Anubis?"

"No, not yet, we all need to see this for ourselves. He's worried enough with the message in the mirror," said Sara. "Anyone else got an idea?"

"Go inside and discuss it some more?" suggested Rona.

"We've only picked it apart to the point where there's nothing left to pick at," I said. "We need to get something new into the picture. We've gone over the mirror. We've gone over the new enemy. What else can we go over?"

My friends fell silent. "I don't know. Ria does have a point," said Rona. "What's our next move?"

"Tomorrow's Friday, we'll try staking out the spot that you saw him. He'll HAVE to come then," said Keisha. 

"What makes you so sure?" asked Sara.

"He said he wants to destroy us. If we're gathered in one place, he'll thrive at the chance to bring us all down at once. But, safety in numbers," said Rona. "We'll attack him all at one and take him down."

"Are you sure that'll work?" asked Keisha.

"No, not really, but it's worth a try. All else fails, we'll send Tiger Lily for Anubis," said our resident super genius.

"What if he doesn't get here in time?" I asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," said Rona. "Being in the Senshi means taking risks. And we haven't taken any."

"Yeah, Anubis won't let us take any," said Sara.

Rona laughed. "That's why we aren't telling him about this. We'll prove to him we can handle this on our own. No help."

"We fought the war on our own," said Sam. "He didn't step into the fights at all. He gave us advice, protected Mike and Sue Lee, and provided transport."

"So? Think he was ready to let us do something this stupid?" said Rona.

I sighed. "Then why are we doing something 'this stupid', Rona?"

Sam laughed. "Because it'll be fun!"


	4. Chapter Four

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Four: Kaze's Entrance

(Rona)

Friday night came. The five of us staked the place out from inside a pizza parlor, playing video games, eating pizza, and hanging out. I could tell the manager, a chubby guy with a funny looking mustache, didn't seem to like us. He kept mumbling something in Italian. Even though I speak Spanish fluently (typically you ARE fluent in Spanish when you have relatives who don't speak a word of English), a sister sort of language to Italian, I hadn't a clue what he was talking about.

Eventually, the place closed and we got kicked out. And told to never come back. I thought it was rude and stuck my tongue out at him. He stuck his back out at me and gave me some sign language. I think Sam returned it from the scolding that Ria gave her.

So we averted to hanging out on the sidewalk for a while. It was dark, close to midnight, and we were starting to get sleepy. Luckily we still had soda, which was loaded with caffeine. "My mom is gonna kill me," said Keisha. "I'm out WAY past my curfew."

"So's mine," said Sara.

"Aw, out parents will deal with it," said Ria. "Or, aunts, in my case and Sam's case. It's Ronin Senshi business- we can get away with a lot of stuff if it's legitimately got something to do with that little thing, you know?"

"But we're doing this without advice from Anubis," I said. "We could get in trouble for THAT."

"Shh!" Sam said suddenly. She stood up and looked around. "I think I heard something."

We then heard an echo-like laugh. "That's him," said Ria quietly. "Gotta be."

A figure in a trench coat and hat jumped down. Both the trench coat and hat were black, as were the gloves on his hands. I also noticed a black scarf covering his face. All we could see were piercing, demonic eyes looking out at us. It creeped me out.

"Hello, Senshi brats," he said. His voice was echoing, almost as if more than one person was speaking at the same time. "Nice to meet the rest of you."

"Well, we'd like to say the same but we aren't since we're here to stop you from doing whatever it is you're doing to try and take the Mortal Realm!" said Keisha, taking a fighting stance.

"Ooo, snippy, snippy," said the figure. 

"Who are you? Why do you hide behind your disguise?!" said Sara. The smallest of our numbers held clenched fists at her sides, her large pink eyes wide in determination. "Show yourself, coward!"

"Fine, as you request, small fry," said the figure.

Sam had to hold Sara back before she charged him. Whatever you do, never call Sara short, small, little, and all other words meaning not big. She hates that.

The figure leapt into the air and in one swift movement, shed the trench coat and his accessories. He landed swiftly on the ground before us, wearing a dismal gray body armor much more smooth than our subarmors where. He was also tall, thick, and had a dangerous glint in his eyes.

That's not what disgusted me about him, though.

"Oh my God," said Sara. "What is he?"

The young man that stood before us was some kind of a freak. His skin was a patchwork of different skin tones, the lines of pink separating them giving him an almost Frankenstein kind of look. His eyes were the same way, a mix of a dark blue, an ice blue, and a pale green with a hint of red and black. The hair was an oily slick of a dark, purplish blue, a pale blonde, and a soft auburn. 

"That is sick," said Keisha. "What happened to you?"

"That is not important. We are known as Kaze, loyal servants to Mistress Trulpa," he said.

"Guys, armor up! Wildfire of the Senshi, Tao JIN!" cried Ria. We all followed suit, ready to battle. Keisha was beginning to look nervous, though, which I couldn't explain at the time.

"We do not care that you armor up. We will still defeat you," said Kaze, looking rather smug and over-confident. 

"We? Why are you talking as if you're more than one person?" asked Keisha. Her fighting stance was weakening, her eyes looking. . . sympathetic. Did she actually feel BAD for Kaze?

Kaze laughed. "You won't live long enough to find out," he said. "Now, what should we use first? We think we'll use our extra special magic."

"Extra special?" asked Sara.

Before anyone else could say or do anything, a glowing orbe of yellow light appeared in his hand. He threw it down at the ground, creating a huge shock wave of energy. We were all caught in it.

"This feels like Anubra's magic!" said Ria. "But how is that possible!?"

The attack stopped, and the Senshi were still standing. Kaze snarled created a green energy ball. This time a huge lightening storm was created. I screamed in pain as we were suddenly jolted with Lord knows how many volts of electricity.

"HIYA!"

I heard Kaze yelp after the battle cry. The attack on us was over. I looked over and saw that Sam had struck him with her own lightening magic. Somehow, she had avoided that strike.

"Why is Kaze's storm so much like Sam's?" asked Sara. "It felt like her powers!"

"That's nothing! It didn't do a thing to me!" said Sam. She sounded half pleased, but half nervous.

"You'll be hurt by this!" said Kaze, this time a bright orange bubble forming in his hand. The ground then began to shake. We all fell to the ground, unable to stand, except for Keisha, who remained on her feet throughout the whole attack. She had a strange, almost desperate look in her eyes.

"Keisha! Hit him now!" said Ria, trying to regain her balance.

"I, I, I don't know," she said. "Kaze. . . is hurt."

"Who cares?! He's evil!" I said. "Now is not the time to be a bleeding heart!"

Keisha frowned and then threw her own attack back at him. Still, she looked like she didn't want to. That allowed the rest of us to stand our own grounds. Ria, Sara, and I quickly started on our own attacks, firing apon Kaze, but while he cried out whenever we hit him, he just kept coming. 

"What the heck is this guy!?" asked Sara. 

"I don't know," I said. "Anyone have an idea?"

"Armor up and let me, Key, and Sara take this chump down?" asked Sam. 

"It's our best shot outside of the Inferna," said Ria. "Go for it!" With that command, we armored up. Sam, Sara, and Keisha began to prepare their special, "forbidden" attacks. 

Sometime during the first war, the three I mentioned discovered special, really strong attack magic that Anubis said they weren't supposed to have. However, since they'd already used it he didn't bother taking it away or blocking it. Sam's Thunderbolt Cut, Sara's Super Wave Smasher, and Keisha's Iron Rock Crusher are invaluable to our team. They provide three aces up our sleeve for tight spots like the one we were currently in.

Kaze laughed. "You don't scare us, Senshi girls," he said.

"I'm not sure if it's the 'we' thing or the fact he's a tough enemy that bugs me more," said Ria. 

"Really, well, maybe the 'we' thing is a clue to defeat him," I said. Still, I notched an arrow in my bow, ready to let it fly, just in case. Ria also had her swords at the ready, her green eyes peering out from the red Wildfire helmet she wore.

Sara and Sam let their attacks loose while Keisha just stood there, her staff shaking. "Keisha, what are you waiting for!?" asked Sam. "This guy's still going strong!"

"I, I, I can't!" she said. With that, Keisha armored down and ran off. Ria and I stared in wonderment while Sam swore at her. 

"She must have picked something up with her psychic senses," said Sara. Then, she turned her head. "Hey! He's gone!"

The rest of us turned our own heads and saw that sure enough, Kaze was gone. "Where did he go?" asked Ria.

My eyes widened. "If it went after Keisha, we've got to save her!" I said. Sam was about to protest, but I held my hand up. "She must have had a reason for not helping you two with it, let's go!"


	5. Chapter Five

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Five: Keisha's Vision

(Ria)

The four of us searched for close to an hour for our runaway friend until we finally found her, crying her eyes out at the Charles River. She wore her street clothes, not seeming to care whether or not she was attacked. Sam was ready to give her a tongue lashing for leaving, but I held her back. Something was wrong with Hardrock and yelling at her wasn't going to make it better. Sara walked over instead- she'd gently talk whatever was bothering her out into the open.

Rona, Sam and I watched them exchange a few words, Sara taking on a few interesting looks. She finally signaled us over to where they sat. "Well?" asked Rona. "What's troubling you, Keisha?"

"When Keisha was fighting Kaze, she said she felt hurt, and she could sense a few spirits. Most of them were trying to hold Kaze back from the inside," said Sara.

The dark skinned psychic shook her head, clenching her eyes shut. "They were trapped in that horrible monster. If I killed it, they might be killed, too," said Keisha. "I don't want to be a killer."

"But what about all the Tin Heads we've-" started Sam.

"The Dynasty soldiers and Trulpa are different. The Tin Cans are dead souls that need to be freed from their prisons. And, and Trulpa's just evil. I don't feel like a killer then. But Kaze is so. . . different," said Keisha.

"Maybe that has to do with the 'we' thing," said Rona. We all turned to her to see what she was getting at. "If Keisha felt numerous spirits coming from him, maybe that's because there's more than one in that thing. Several souls jammed into one body."

I went wide eyed. "Is that possible?" I asked.

"Yes. Unfortunately that body can only be stable for so long before the souls combust," said Rona. She bit her bottom lip. "If Keisha's right. . ."

"That would kill them. What if they're innocent people?" said Sara, going wide eyed. "Maybe Trulpa manipulated them with Nether Spirits. Keisha had good reason to run away. We can't harm innocent victims."

"So we've got to find a way to free the souls and destroy Kaze, if possible," said Keisha.

"Question is, how?" asked Rona.

I sighed. "We're going to ask Anubis first thing in the morning."

~

Anubis, when we talked to him, was considerably angry that we'd tried to face something we didn't understand without telling him about it. "That was a very foolish and stupid thing to do," he said. "I understand that you don't want me to walk you through every war we face but this Kaze character sounds dangerous."

"We think it's several souls that have been manipulated by the Dynasty to do Trulpa's bidding," said Sam. "So we want to destroy Kaze and save the souls trapped inside."

Anubis' eyes widened. "Where did you come up with that?"

"I felt more than one spirit in that thing, and I could tell they were fighting it. Or trying to, at least," said Keisha. "They were in pain."

"The souls are going to combust eventually and then we haven't a clue as to what will happen to Kaze, then," said Rona. "That's why we've got to act fast."

"This sounds possible," said Anubis. "If your description of him is right, he is probably something known as a tri-mutantal. Basically, that means someone- probably Trulpa- crammed three beings into one and took over it.

"All right, you do that, we go and look for Kaze," said Sam.

"What!? Are you nuts?" asked Sara.

"Some of those attacks didn't affect us, remember?" said Sam. "A lightning based attack had no affect on me. An earth attack had no effect on Keisha." She slammed her first into her palm. "I bet Kaze is a cheap rip-off of our powers. She must've taken samples of our powers to fuel him!"

"What's this about being immune to some of his attacks?" asked Anubis.

I sighed. "When Kaze attacked us, he let loose three different attacks of a somewhat element base. One of the attacks hit us all. The second attack was a lightening storm that jolted everyone but Sam. She jolted him back. Then an earth attack shook us up, except for Keisha," I replied.

"I didn't want to hurt him," said Keisha.

Sara sighed heavily. "Keisha. . . look, we understand how you feel but if it gets to the point where there isn't any other way, we might have to destroy Kaze, especially if the spirit particles had combusted."

Keisha openly frowned at the thought. "We can't let that happen!"

I sighed heavily. "Keisha, I know how we all feel about killings but this could be the-"

"We have to act fast!" said Keisha. "They're hurting in there! I want them to be free!" 

Sam snorted. "Who cares if the world looses a few pig-headed men," she said.

Keisha shot the head-strung Halo a dirty look. "How. DARE. You!" she said. "Sam, we all know your opinion on the other sex, but that gives you no right to let them die because they are more than likely guys!"

Rona, Sara, and I exchanged an uncomfortable look. When Keisha and Sam fought, they fought like wildcats. Anubis knew it too, but he kept his eyes locked on the fighters. 

Sara finally decided to stop it. "Look, Keisha's right. We can't let possibly innocent prisoners die because of our carelessness. We need a definite way to free them. Besides, they may have information we can use when we face Trulpa again," she said.

Anubis nodded. "Good inference, Sara. But why are you two so sure that Kaze is made of innocent souls?" he asked.

Sara smiled. "Innocent souls? Hardly. I am no longer completely innocent. None of us are. For what we know about each other we only have our virginity and the fact that none of us have killed anyone. We know about wars and the basics of violence, sex, and I won't ask about drug usage. We've fought a war, and while we have yet to kill anything, we know the spoils of it. I'm not saying three sweet little girls that have spent their whole lives playing with dollies and kitties. I'm saying three souls of an undetermined sex or age that probably know about the violence in a war, taking away at least some of their innocence," she said. 

"Good call, Sara!" said Rona. "Nicely put to shove it down Sam's throat."

"Shove it," said Sam. 

"So why don't we all stop wasting time arguing about it and try to figure out how in the world we're gonna save whatever made up Kaze?" I said.

"Right, we have no idea how much time we have left," said Rona.

"They were still fighting fairly strong against whatever is controlling Kaze, if it helps," said Keisha.

"Good, we have time," said Anubis. While we were talking he'd been searching through his computer files. "It says here that they gradually begin to weaken before they combust. It also says that the only way to free them is a strong force with a pure heart."

"The heck does that mean?" said Sam.

"It means Ria needs to use the Inferna against this guy," said Anubis.

"That would kill him!" I said. 

Anubis smacked his forehead. "No, no, no! You aren't going to fry him! You need to focus strong healing magic through the Inferna."

"How?" I asked. "Wildfire has no healing magic what so ever."

Sara's eyes lit up. "Well, this is just a guess but. . . never mind."

I turned to our smallest member. "What? Tell us!"

The Hawaiian native sighed heavily. "All right. Sam can physically heal someone. Keisha, with her psychic powers, can probably mentally heal someone. I can free people from the control of evil spirits. If we could figure out a way so that you don't need to absorb me, Sam, and Keisha, than we could send our healing powers to you and you can channel those. But we-"

"BRILLIANT!" said Anubis. "I can use the staff to substitute your powers, so only Rona would need to donate! Sara, that was wondrous!"

Rona grinned. "Let's go for it!"


	6. Chapter Six

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Six: Prelude to the Fight

(Rona)

Okay, so, maybe we were all slightly nervous. I mean, c'mon, we were going up something really big and really strong that could possibly get stronger. As if he needed it! We did horrible against him, and there wasn't even a one-hundred percent guarantee Sara's plan would work.

Anubis explained to us that the Staff was capable of replacing up to three of us to form the Inferna, if needed. The example he gave was if three of us were captured. It made sense. However, four was another story. One of us would need to bust out, which would be difficult.

Either way, Keisha and I helped expand our plan. The five of us would split up at different points in the city, sections that we marked off called Zones One through Five. Each of us had a high-powered walkie-talkie connected to the other four. Yeah, they were expensive. Three of my pay-checks and five of Ria's allowances. Anyways, when one of us saw Kaze, they'd engage in battle after sending off the signal with the walkie-talkie. The rest of us then head to that spot, one of us dragging Anubis along. We then proceed on with Sara's plan and hope it works.

You can see where we were all worried.

My area was the Back Bay, which is part of the South End. I was also the one stuck with Anubis. Well, not stuck, but, I was the one that got to drag him around for the proceedings. We ended up at the Prudential to get Orange Julius drinks. Anubis was headed for one mother of a sugar crash while I half-scanned the food court for cute boys. Ever since the first war, however, it hasn't been as enjoyable. I felt as if I need to start looking for that one, special someone. But it felt like he was millions of miles away. . .

"Rona?"

I looked up. Anubis was looking forlornly at the Orange Julius counter. "Your money, go ahead," I said. Anubis joyfully stood up and rushed over to buy another four or so Orange Julius.

"Um, sir, don't you think you've had enough? This is your fifth round of Orange Julius-" said the guy at the counter before Anubis grabbed his collar.

"I'LL TELL YOU WHEN I'VE HAD ENOUGH! GIMMEEEEEE!!!!!!"

~

Well, after I bailed Anubis out of the Prudential security office, I decided staying outside was safer. "He wouldn't give me an Orange Julius. It was his own fault!"

"Now I know how Keisha and Sara felt when they took you to Mickey D's," I said. Anubis frowned and started staring at a bunch of pigeons some old woman was feeding. I sighed heavily, staring at the walkie-talkie in my hand. "Do something you stupid piece of electronics crap."

"My, you're in a good mood," said Anubis.

"I spent my last two paychecks to bail you out for grabbing that guy. I was saving up for Lunar series," I said. (Note: Very expensive series of video games. Best packaging in the world of video games- YOU GET SO MUCH COOL JUNK! AND THE GAMES ARE OLD SCHOOL RPGs! OLD SCHOOL RPGs KICK ASS!)

"Oh," said Anubis. "Sorry, but-"

"We're going to have to bring you to counseling for that, Anubis," I said. "Besides, we're on a mission, and it's not to get sugar drunk on soft drinks!"

Anubis looked hurt. "I said I was sorry."

"You said 'but' as well. It takes away the meaning on the word," I said. Anubis frowned. "You'll learn in time."

"Do I have to?" 

~

After several hours of waiting, the two of us started to play those stupid games first graders play at lunch. "I spy with my little eye. . . something. . .pink."

"That incredibly fat woman's dress?" I said.

"Right, your turn," said Anubis.

"I spy with my little eye, something blue."

"The mailbox?"

"No."

"That man's jeans?"

"No."

"That car?"

"No."

"Ah! The baby stroller."

"No."

"The lamp post?"

"That's not blue."

"I give up."

"The correct answer is the sky," I said. Anubis looked ready to scream. I couldn't help but laugh. Poor Anubis. . .

BEEP-EPP!

"What was that?" asked Anubis.

BEEP-EPP!

"Hey! Would someone pick up their cell phone!?" I yelled into the ground. Then I looked down and saw the red light on the walkie-talkie flashing. "Oops, never mind." I turned on the walkie-talkie.

"Guys! Kaze's at the Big Dig! The workers have cleared the area and I think they're just been set back five months from all the damage he's caused!!" Sara's frantic yet static-filled voice was on the other end. Anubis and I wasted no time in getting there.

~

Sara was right. No worker was in the area, but I didn't see Kaze or Sara anywhere. "Where are they?" asked Anubis. He was in the robes of the Ancient, I in my subarmor.

"I don't know- Keisha! Sam! Ria! They're over there!" I said excitedly, pointing towards a rather large crane that had been left unattended. The girls were standing outside of it. That was when I saw this black and blue armor below the claw of the crane. 

The crane was moving.

"How's it moving?" I asked. As we got closer, I then realized how it was moving. 

Sara was driving it.

"SHE DOESN'T HAVE A LICENSE!" I screamed, running towards the crane. Sara was attempting to dump dirt on top of the blue and black thing. Whatever it was.

As we got closer, it suddenly dawned on me who it was. "That's Kaze!" I said. 

Anubis gasped. "Oh crap," he said.

I turned to our trusted friend and ally. "What?"

"That's not just Kaze. That's the Armor of the Soul!"

"Huh?" I asked, more than a little confused as to what this new armor was. "What's the Armor of the Soul?"

Anubis gulped. "It's another super armor, on equal grounds of the Inferna. Don't you understand? The odds just got worse!"

I turned back to my friends and the demon, now in the Armor of the Soul. We were in BIG trouble this time. . .


	7. Chapter Seven

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Seven: The Battle With Kaze

(Ria)

Okay, so maybe having Sara controlling the crane wasn't a good idea. After all the Starbucks coffee she'd had. . . I didn't want to think about what she was capable off.

Kaze just looked at her and laughed. "Pathetic contraption," he said. He lifted the sword he now carried- a very large saber with a sort of chain-saw look from the pointed teeth along the edge- and pointed it at the crane. It began to collect energy.

The smallest of our numbers saw this and panicked. Sara was just barely able to jump out before it exploded. Sam caught her, all of us staring at the now smoking hunk of twisted metal. Kaze laughed evilly, raising his sword again. "Prepare to die, Senshi brats!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Anubis and Rona on the way. They weren't coming fast enough, though! Kaze was readying another attack. This time, instead of a disaster, lightening, or an earthquake, a tidal wave hit us. 

"Where the heck did he get those powers!?" asked Sam. Almost expected, the tidal wave had no effect on Sara. This should have been some sort of a clue, but I didn't understand it. Why were some of his attacks not affecting some of us? 

"TAKE THIS!" said Sara. She prepared an elemental attack, hurtling it towards our enemy. Kaze laughed as it splashed harmlessly against his armor. "Uh oh, I'm in trouble." 

"Pathetic attempt to hurt us, little girl," he said. He lifted his hand and let out a massive thunderbolt over Sara. She cried out as her subarmor did little to protect her from the harsh lightening attack.

"SARA!" cried Sam once Sara fell to her knees. Halo of the Senshi rushed to her side to try and heal her. Kaze was ready to attack again, but Keisha diverted him with a sharp blow from her nunchaku. Yeah, it didn't hurt, but he turned his attention from our injured Senshi long enough for Sam to heal her. Sara was back on her feet and ready to battle once again.

Me? After realizing I'd been standing and watching the fight for a few minutes without doing anything, I lifted my left arm, which carried my throwing stars, concentrated, and sent them hurtling towards Kaze. To my surprise, they did something different. The light blue, orange, and green stars glowed fiercely as they imbedded themselves into the armor while the red and dark blue ones actually hurt him. All five returned to my arm. 

"Whoa," I said. "Weird."

"Ria! Take my power!" I turned my head to see Rona surrendering her powers to me. Anubis threw the Staff down, and suddenly the Inferna was once again being formed. My armor melted from my body as the red body suit and white chain mail replaced it.

Keisha took charge of the other three. "Sara, Sam, armor up! Hardrock of the Senshi, Dao GI!"

"Torrent of the Senshi, Dao SHIN!"

"Halo of the Senshi, Dao CHI!"

I barely heard their armor ups from inside the fire ball. My blades came to me as the armor was finally complete. 

"Hey, nice armor, Ria," said Sara. Then, her helmet fell foreword, covering her eyes. "Hey!" she cried, pushing it back up. She grumbled, cursing her size.

"Lookin' sharp!" said Keisha, giving me a thumbs up.

Sam laughed, reading her no-datchi. "Now let's get down to business and kick this guy's hide."

Kaze laughed. "Hardly. We are wearing the Armor of the Soul. It is a super armor, much like the Armor of the Inferna," he said. "So why not surrender to our mistress now and save yourselves the trouble of being killed?"

"Um, how about not?" I said. I crossed my katanas. "Guys, get ready!" The three visible Senshi nodded. I looked up to see a now helpless Anubis watching the battle, the rice bowl hat covering his eyes. 

Kaze laughed and began to shoot several random attacks at my friends. They yelped and began to dodge the attacks as they came their respective ways. There was no way we were going to land the attack against Kaze if we couldn't get organized. He was laughing maniacally. 

I had one last try for hope. I had to try and contact the souls that Keisha thought were imprisoned inside of Kaze. If they could just take control for just long enough, then maybe, just maybe we could deal the blow that would free them. I closed my eyes and concentrated.

_Please, prisoners of Kaze, try to work together and hold him down. We want to free you. Please, try and take control of him. Work together, do anything you can, just give us the chance to free you! _

I didn't get a response in the form of words, but I felt a sense of acknowledgment. I opened my eyes and suddenly, Kaze was frozen in place. Keisha, Sara, and Sam began to compose themselves.

Keisha was first. "I call apon the powers of the Earth in the name of Hardrock of the Senshi! Heal these wounded souls!" A bright orange beam of energy was sent my way. A calm, warm feeling washed over me.

Sara was next. "I call apon the powers of Water in the name of Torrent of the Senshi! Free these souls from the spirit controlling them!" A beam of light blue energy went my way. I felt a strong power embed itself in me.

"I call apon the powers of Light in the name of Halo of the Senshi! Heal this disfigured being!" said Sam. A beam of green energy came my way. The sweet, refreshing feel of Sam's healing magic enveloped me.

My swords began to glow. They absorbed the three magic powers I'd been sent. Kaze took control again, eyeing the swords in what I almost consider fear. I grinned. "You're not going to control these poor souls any longer, Kaze! I call apon the powers of Fire in the name of Wildfire of the Senshi and the Armor of the Inferna! SENSHI HEALING!"

A beam of stripped light was sent Kaze's way. It impacted the beast, causing him to scream. His eyes went wide and white and the energy began to fry him. Keisha's kanji of GI lit up over his body, a bright orange hue enveloping the creature. Sam's kanji of CHI and a green halo followed. A light blue tone and the symbol of SHIN were Sara's mark, finishing the attack.

Or, so it seemed.

The mark that surprised me the most was the yellow kanji, one I didn't recognize, and the yellow hue. That ended the spectacle. Kaze and his evil Armor of the Soul disappeared, leaving three glowing orbes of light. 

Kaze was gone.

The lights flew up into the air, twinkling and sparkling. I watched the spectacle in awe as they twirled around each other, climbing higher and higher into the air. We'd freed the spirits in time. They hadn't combusted.

I released Rona from the Inferna, and pointed into the sky. Strata of the Senshi laughed, smiling. "Wow. . . we did it!"

"Incredible," said Sara. She smiled as she watched them, her eyes seeming to reflect them. "Are those the-" she stopped. "Oh no!"

All of our eyes turned to the sudden black vortex that appeared high above the Boston skyline. It made a noisy gale as it began to attempt to suck up the orbes of light. All three fought it, quavering as they fought the force. Two were swallowed in, but the last one still struggled to stay free. Eventually, the vortex closed up. The last orbe, like an elastic effect, was sent flying away through the night sky.

Keisha looked up forlornly at the light that glinted away. "The voice. . ."

Sara, Sam, and I turned slowly to Keisha. "What?" we all asked.

Tears began to come to Keisha's eyes. "I know that last orbe of light, it, it had to be the spirit I felt in the Dynasty! I could feel it!" she said. Rivulets of tears began to drip down her cheeks. "I, I finally helped it. It's free now."

"Could it be?" asked Sam, crossing her arms as she looked off in the direction the light had been sent. "Did we. . . was that. . ."

I smiled. "It is. I just hope whatever it is finds its way home."

"And I hope those other two can be saved, too," said Sara, looking almost forlornly at the spot where the vortex had been. "If it isn't too late for them."

"Let's get home," said Rona. "Our families are probably worried by now." The rest of us agreed with this statement as we walked away, our weapons over our respective shoulders.


	8. Chapter Eight

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Eight: The End of Kaze?

(Rona)

"What the heck do you suppose it was?" I asked, scratching my head. At this point we were all on the roof of the Pru via my flying abilities and the construction site had been magically restored. The workers were in for one heck of a surprise the followed morning, that was for sure. "You know, that light that got away."

"The spirit I met in the Dynasty," said Keisha.

Sam sighed. "Yeah, but WHAT was it? Human? Demon? Just a spirit?"

"I don't know, but I hope it feels better now," said Sara. 

Anubis sighed heavily. "Why do I get the feeling we'll be hearing from one or more of those spirits later on?"

I laughed. "Are you kidding? That's practically a given, Anubis," I said. I flipped my braid behind me. "Two of them didn't get away. If the third one is their friend, he or she'll be looking to us for help, you know? So, what do you think will happen next?"

"Who knows?" said Ria. "But we know Trulpa isn't done with us, for sure."

Sara looked up into the sky. "But what happened to the other two?" she asked,

The rest of us exchanged looks. After Keisha had recognized the escapee as the spirit she'd met, we'd kind of forgotten about the other two. "I don't know," said Anubis. "That looked like a Dynasty vortex. Trulpa probably recaptured them."

"I hope she won't kill them," I said. 

"Trulpa usually doesn't kill civilians," said Anubis. "Other Dynasty overlords might, she doesn't. She doesn't like killing 'weaklings' to make her look better. She takes down those who are strong. Like Ronin Senshi."

"Well he won't kill us," said Keisha. She sighed heavily. "We'd better get back to our homes. Our parents are going to start worrying."

"Start worrying? It's past midnight!" said Sara. "We gotta hurry!"

~

The following day, I hit the highway on my motorcycle. She's a deep blue Yamaha with a black helmet. One of my pride and joys. To me, it's almost like flying, but more, normal. And fun, too. The guys go nuts over my bike. 

I eventually stopped when I got to a cliff side I knew about in another part of Massachusetts. Sometimes I come out there, just to be by myself and think. I did that a lot before the first war. Trying to hold on to what little innocence I could, I guess. 

The night has always amazed me, and it always will. Part of my element is the night, I guess. I am of the wind, the sky, the stars, and the night. I sometimes long to be one with them, but I'd miss my friends and family. I'd feel alone. I would do it if I could be with someone and have the option of coming home again. 

Maybe that's who I needed to find. Someone who could be one with the stars with me. I looked up into the night sky, wondering if I would every find that person.

"Some. . . where. . . out. . . there. . . beneath the pale moon light. Some. . . one's thinking of. . . me, and loving me. . . tonight," I sang longingly.

_Some. . . where. . . out. . . there. . . someone's saying a prayer. . . that we'll, find one another in that big somewhere out there. . . _I thought I heard a deep voice answer.

I decided to answer it. "And even though I know how very far apart we are, it helps to think we might be wishing, on the same bright star!"

_And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby, it helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky!_

"Some where out there, if love can see us through! Then, we'll be together, somewhere out there, out where dream, come true. . ." I sang. I could hear the voice singing with me, and tears came to my eyes. 

_And even though I know how very far apart we are, it helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star!_

"And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby, it helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky!" I sang out, loud and proud.

_Somewhere out there, if love can see us through!"  
_"Then, we'll be together, somewhere out there," I sang, before being joined once more, "out where dreams. . . come. . . true." A few tears slid down my cheeks. What had just happened was something short of a beautiful experience. "I hope we meet someday."

"Ya know, kid, ya got a nice voice but ya definitely a loon."

I turned around to see an old man in a walker standing behind me. I blushed and rushed back to my motorcycle, ready to speed off. "Wait!"

I reluctantly waited. "Yes?" I asked.

"Love is a beautiful thing. You will find someone, somewhere out there, just keep trying," he said, a yellowed grin coming my way. I smiled back and started up the motorcycle before speeding off again. 

~

When I got back to Boston, it was late, eleven or so, and my dad was a little upset, but he didn't ground me. I was out late a lot after the first war. He just kind of nodded and raised his eyebrow before turning in himself. I took out a book and started to read.

But I couldn't concentrate. I had too much on my mind. One, the three spectrals that had come from Kaze. Who or what were they? Were we going to run into the escapee? And what happened to the other two? What will happen to them?

The other thing was my duet. I didn't have any sort of a clue who the heck it was that I was hearing. Did I suddenly crazy, or was I just really sick and tired or having a kick-around boyfriend for a week at most before we broke it off and I went onto the next boy? I'd have to ask the girls about that one. Asking Anubis seemed. . . out of place. I mean, he's a guy and you aren't supposed to ask guys about love and junk unless you are a guy, which I'm not.

I put my book down and sighed heavily. The Ronin Senshi made me feel proud and stuff, but it was also the main source of my headaches. I mean, I'm only sixteen and here I am helping to defend the world from an evil even my intellect is having trouble contemplating. Yeah, sometimes being a super hero looks glamorous, but not always. Being chosen like I have been, it's kind of scary.

I stood up and went into the kitchen to get myself a glass of milk. I was thirsty and walked something nice and creamy. Too bad we didn't have any ice cream or I'd attack that. I also eyed the freezer. Hmm, there were frozen Girl Scout cookies in there that Sue Lee had sold us for her troop. The idea of those coconut and chocolate ones sounded good. And so did short bread. Mmm. . . Thin Mints. . .

So I went back into the living room with my midnight snack and turned on the Tv, absently watching a salute to Adam Sandler's SNL years. There were Opera Man moments, and there were some songs, you know, Adam Sandler stuff. 

I clicked the television off, getting bored. Yeah, he was funny, but I just couldn't get into it. I kept thinking back to the three Kaze spirits. What had happened to them? Where they all right? Hell, WHAT were they in the first place?

I sighed heavily. I didn't have time to think about this. I needed sleep, and I needed it badly.

Author's Note: I own no claim to the song "Somewhere, Out There". The song thing does become an important theme later on.


	9. Chapter Nine

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Nine: Inside the Dynasty

Trulpa sat fuming in her throne room. After her entire Kaze scheme had (almost literally) blown up in her face, she had dropped into a rather bad mood. "Damned Ronin Senshi," she mumbled. "Kaze was NOT an experiment that was meant to fail!"

Brenamon floated before her mistress, trying to figure out a way to figure out a way to cheer her up. Simply, in the Dynasty, if Trulpa wasn't happy, no one was happy (unless you happened to be one of three special prisoners that we all know and love- they're VERY happy when she isn't happy). "I do not know how I can be of service, but if you know of anything. . ."

Kamusa, Trulpa's right hand whiny brat, sat on the arm of Trulpa's throne. "Why not re-construct him?"

"No, that would require going through the whole experiment again," said Brenamon. Going through the whole experiment again was something she didn't want to do, anyways. . . "We need to unleash another plan, but something the Senshi won't be able to handle."

Kamusa grinned. "Why not send me, Kayura, and the Dark Warlords on them? The traitor and the brats won't be able to handle us all," he said. "Warladies, too. Osiris and Anubra could double-team Ria, Cara and Cale could go after Halo, and so one."

Trulpa shook her head. "No, too easy. I want this to be a glorious victory. And the Staff could play a role in it, Kamusa dear." In response, Kamusa pouted and folded his arms.

"There must be something we can do, milady," said Brenamon. "But what?"

"Well, why not throw Anubis that bait you and I discovered?" said Kamusa. He grinned at the prospect of the idea. "Lure Anubis here to come get his son and then attack the Senshi!"

Trulpa sighed. "He might not believe it to be true or deny it."

"But whether or not Cye of the Torrent is his flesh and blood doesn't make the fact that they are friends and allies any less true," said Brenamon. "Even if he doesn't believe us about that, he may believe us when it comes to other matters."

"Yes, very true," said Trulpa. "But I already have a few plans for him and the other two."

Kamusa growled. "Why'd you even bother capturing three Ronin Warriors anyways, Trulpa?" he asked. "They hate your guts, you hate theirs, and you have to brainwash them to get them to do anything! I'm telling you- COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME! Just kill them now, use Talpa's power, and obliterate the Senshi once and for all!"

Trulpa laughed. "So? I don't care how I get the Ronin Warriors to work, if I can do it, I will!"

Brenamon grinned. "You'll understand eventually, you dim-wit."

Kamusa drew one of his Comet Swords. "You wanna fight, Nether Bit-"

"SILENCE!" cried Trulpa. "I will not have you fighting amongst each other. Brenamon, don't call Kamusa names. Kamusa, don't draw your swords to another member of the Dynasty unless they prove treacherous."

"Yes, milady," they said in unison. Trulpa groaned. She was beginning to suspect that her loyal servants practiced saying such phrases.

Lady Kayura, Kamusa's sister, zapped into the room. "Mistress Trulpa, how are you feeling?"

"With the defeat of Kaze? Not good," said Trulpa. "I need another plan, which is what the three of us are discussing and it isn't making me feel any better."

"Why don't you have a bubble bath after the meeting? They always make me feel better," said Kamusa. Brenamon rolled her eyes and Trulpa raised an eyebrow. "They do!"

Trulpa turned back to Kayura. "Well, Kayura, what news have you to bring to me?"

Kayura laughed weakly. "Well, I'm afraid your mood isn't going to get much better."

Trulpa's eyes widened. "What do you mean!?" 

"Well, the Warlords and I, as you know, we went to check on the Ronin Warriors, right?" she said.

"Get to the point!" said Trulpa.

"One of them is missing," said Kayura.

"DAMN!"

_Now, loyal fans, is the time that the Senshi will know the truth. The origin of their armors. Anubis' secret. And about their partners in arms, the mighty Ronin Warriors! And now begins the story of one of those Ronin Warriors and the Senshi of that respective armor._


	10. Chapter Ten

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Ten: Boston

(Kento)

_Ow. . ._

Slowly, I opened my eyes. My head hurt pretty darn badly. "What happened?" I asked. I sat up and looked around. All I saw was the night sky, a few trees, and the grass I was lying on. "Where the heck am I!?"

I stood up and looked down, almost surprised as to what my outfit was as to my location. "Jeans! T-shirt! Blessed, blessed modern clothes!" I said. "Sneakers!" Sure enough, I'd somehow been clothed in a pair of jeans, an orange T-shirt, a denim jacket, and a pair of sneakers. Compared to a year of nothing but weird slippers and temple robes, this was heaven. 

However, the temporary distraction was eventually closed and I got back to my original question. I realized I wasn't in the Dynasty. There's no grass in the Dynasty and the sky is always the same dismal gray. The sky was a deep, bluish-black with white stars speckling the night sky, the sound of cars in the background. "I'm back home," I said quietly. Then, I frowned. "I could be anywhere on Earth."

My name is Kento Rei Fuang, but I'm also known as Kento of the Hardrock. I was given the title because I am a Ronin Warrior. But I am also, now, a somewhat powerful sorcerer, in some sense. But that's a bit of a long story. One you should already know by now. You know, evil Dynasty emperor/empress try to take over Mortal Realm, old dude with a magic staff stops them, makes armors, yadda, yadda, yadda. 

Now here's where the sorcerer thing comes in. While you may know that, too, you might've also skipped over that part, which means its highly likely you're staring at the screen with one finger (or some foreign object) stuff up one nostril like the kid who eats glue on _The Simpsons_ (don't know, please don't ask. . .). If this is you, shame, shame, shame! If not, you're cool like people including Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Val Kilmer, and, the best looking in the entire group, yours truly.

Hey, I can dream, can't I?

Now, for the Ralph clones, here's what happened: during our second war with Talpa, Sage, Cye, and I were captured, tortured, and turned into living statues. Fun, right? Gets better. Turns out the torture method Talpa chose broke magical barrier that prevent Ronin Warriors from using elemental magic and prevent Ronin Senshi from using attack magic. Trulpa found out about this and decided she wanted to kidnap three unsuspecting sorcerers and the former head-honchos of Talpa's army. Sad to say, she got away with it and for a while, the three of us were stuck in the Dynasty with some brainwashed Warlords and the psychotic sister of Talpa.

You know, now that I think about it, considering the last few girlfriends I had, I'm not surprised Trulpa's the more evil of the two. . . go figure.

Eventually Trulpa ran an experiment on the three of us after the Senshi handed her big fat old butt back to her. Our bodies were combined into one horrendously ugly body and placed under the care of a very high ranking Nether Spirit named Kaze. He fought the Senshi. Our souls, deep inside the prison Kaze had created, were helpless to stop him. But the Senshi freed us. After that I didn't remember anything until I woke up.

Remembering the Kaze experiment, I realized that maybe Sage and Cye were out of the Dynasty, too. I started to search for them, only to come up empty handed. I couldn't sense them and I had a gut feeling that they'd been brought back into the Dynasty. I was alone.

I looked up at the stars. They were the same constellations from Japan, but it still felt so different. At least I knew I was north of the equator. Like it helped. I could be in Czechoslovakia for all I knew!

I sighed heavily and started walking towards the sounds of the cars. Maybe, if I got lucky I was near Boston or Toyama. Boston meant the Senshi and Anubis, Toyama meant Ryo, Rowen, Mia, and Yuli. I missed those guys, but the Senshi needed my help. Trulpa certainly wasn't dead yet and there was no way they could handle all of her forces alone. Even with Anubis.

After I got to a point where I could see the skyline, I realized I definitely wasn't in Japan. All the bulletin boards were in English. I could hear people yelling at other people in English with a kind of weird accent. (Hey, I don't wanna go in the watah, watch wheah ya goin', ya freak! Leahn ta drive a caa!) (Note: Bostonians normally don't pronounce their "r" sounds. The previous was: Hey, I don't want to go in water, watch where you're going, you freak! Learn to drive a car!)

This was a strange, strange society. 

Eventually I learned that I was indeed in Boston. Now I just had to find the Senshi and/or Anubis, although I figured I'd be better off finding Anubis first. The Ronin Senshi might not trust me right off the bat. 

Once I got into the main part of the city, I realized it was made of very twisted, winding roads. "Mia would get a headache here," I mumbled. Then, I felt my stomach rumbling. I frowned. No money meant no food. Once thing I hated was going hungry. I put my hand on my stomach and frowned before I sat down on a bench. 

It was getting close to roughly three in the morning, but I wasn't all that tired. Just hungry. And lost. And homeless. And broke. And kind of annoyed. Not to mention worried. How the heck was I going to survive in this crazy country!?

Eventually I started walking again. I was then put in shock and amazement when I found myself looking at signs written in Chinese. "Huh!?" I asked. Then, I saw a sign in English saying "Welcome to China Town". I sighed heavily. Well, at least I could find people hear who spoke my native language. I started wandering the streets of the Chinese neighborhood, feeling terribly homesick. Seeing some of the restaurants made me think of my own family back in Japan. I wiped away some rain water that had found its way onto my cheek. From the looks of the sky and the warm, salty taste, I realized it wasn't rain water. 

"Am I ever gonna get home again?" I asked in Japanese. More tears came and I eventually ended up in a back ally, crying my eyes out. I felt weak doing that. I hate crying. Cye keeps trying to tell me that crying is a normal human emotion and that even big, tough strong guys like me need to do it once in a while. I was lost, alone, hungry, and actually kind of frightened. 

Eventually I cried myself to sleep. . .

The next morning, China Town was alive. People of my own heritage lined the streets as well as some from other heritage. Wild, long strings of Chinese flew off of several mouths, but it had been just a little over a year since I'd spoken the language with other people, so half of it I didn't catch. A lot of it was about drugs and sex and stuff.

American culture was VERY strange. I was wondering why people considered it the best country in the world to live in. To me it looked like a bunch of horny and/or high idiots. 

Eventually I saw a strange shop with black curtains and little yellow stars all over it. My senses getting curious, I stepped inside and found a kind of mystic, dark atmosphere. A woman sitting behind a desk looked up at me. She was old, not-Chinese (why she was in a Chinese neighborhood was beyond me) and wearing kind of shiny robes and a purple turban. "Ah, welcome to my studio, young one."

"Um, hi," I said in my still rather-poor English. "What kind of a studio is this?"  
"Psychic studio," she said. "Would you like your fortune read?"

"Um, no thank you," I said. "I'm just kind of lost-"

"You do look rather. . . un-kept," she said.

I snorted. "I spent last night in a cardboard box, thank you very much," I said. The woman's eyes widened.

"Oh? Tell Madame Shinshu about it, uh, your name is. . . Chin!"

"It's Kento," I said. I made up a story about being taken hostage by Iraqi terrorists smuggling crack in the US while I was vacationing with my family in Los Angeles. Then, they brought the crack to Boston and were secretly apprehended by the cops as to avoid public attention. I ran away before they thought I was a terrorist, too. Believe it or not, Madame Shinshu bought it and felt bad for me. She gave me some food and let me take a shower. She even provided me with clothes!

In return, she wanted me to work at the desk for her studio. Madame Shinshu ran her own little fortune telling business and was starting to have trouble managing desk work. All I had to do was let her know when more customers came in.

Somehow I got a weird feeling about it. . .


	11. Chapter Eleven

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Eleven: Anubis' Secret

(Keisha)

My name is Keisha Narrlobi. I'm originally from South California, but I currently live in Boston with my parents and older brother, Evan. I've got four best friends, a nice home, and an incredible history.

We used to be poor until my dad got a very lucky lotto ticket and got us a good house in Boston. Then, he and my mom were in a car crash a year later. They can't walk anymore. But my mom, who wrote as a hobby, got one of her books published she things didn't get too bad again. Evan and I are blessed our parents are alive and making some money, but to see them in the wheelchairs in heart wrenching.

Well, first off, I'm an incredibly fast runner. I hold a lot of the girl's track records that deal with running (with the exception of the hurdle ones- I hate those stupid things) and I desperately want to run the Boston Marathon when I'm older. My coach thinks that if I keep at it, I'll be in the elite class of runners. My speed is something I cherish and thank the Lord for every day, since I've seen for myself what it's like to not even be able to walk. Every step I've run since the accident has been for my parents. Every last medal and trophy I've done for them. If I'm ever asked to give a speech, they're always the first people to come out of my mouth. I love them to death and it pains me every time they have to get on the mini-elevator to get upstairs or can't get to a restaurant or mall because they don't have wheelchair ramps. I know there's nothing I can do for them myself. I can donate to medical research groups all day long or volunteer at charity fund-raisers, but for now, I am only one hand trying to push a boulder that just can't be budged yet.

My second talent is that I'm, so a certain degree, psychic. I sense my friends feelings and sometimes I can even see into the future, but that's a rare occurrence. I've also come in contact with other souls before, but I can never tell who or what it was, or is. I dunno, my powers confuse me a lot. I don't think it's the full extent of my powers, but I haven't seen much beyond what I've already done as of yet. People used to think I was crazy and I didn't have a lot of friends, but I do know, and they accept the fact that I sense things and see things- they don't think I'm crazy at all. If they did, well, they'd have to be hypocrites because guess what? We've seen and dealt with weirder.

I'm one of the Ronin Senshi. I have the earth armor, known as the Hardrock. I'm powered by justice, the earth, and the earth's spirits. But you should know that by now- haven't you been paying attention to anything any of my friends have said?

Anyways, my part of the story begins here.

~

I was on my way to Mike's house during the first weekend of the summer. Ria had called a meeting, telling the rest of us that something very important was going to happen that day. I didn't know what it was, but I DID have a gut feeling that told me it was going to be a big one, whatever it was. So after kissing my mom and dad good-bye, I was off.

As I pulled up in Mike's driveway (yeah, I can drive, and my mom helped me pay for a car so I wouldn't have to keep asking Evan to borrow his car) I saw Rona and her motorcycle pull up behind me. "Hi, Rona."

"Hey, Keish," she said, waving as she strapped her helmet onto the back seat of the bright blue Yamaha. "Wonder why Ria called the meeting?"

"I dunno, but whatever it's for, Sara and Sam already left," I said. "I tried to pick 'em up but Trevor and Ella said they'd gone."

The two of us walked into the house together, where we found Ria, Sara, and Sam already sitting in the living room. Sam was casually flung into a chair, her legs dangling over one of the arms and her upper body over the other, while Sara and Ria on opposite ends of the couch. I plopped down between them while Rona fell onto the love seat, Sam deciding to join her. "So, what's the meeting about?" asked Rona.

"Anubis called me last night and asked me to call it, like I told all of you this morning. He said he had something to tell us," said Ria. "I haven't the slightest clue as to what."

"We all agree that he's hiding something, maybe this is it," said Sam. "It should be interesting, at least."

"It is."

We all looked over to see Anubis approaching us. He looked nervous, absently fingering his straight, auburn hair as he came down the stairs. I looked at him in worry, wondering what was wrong. This wasn't like him at all. "It is a dark secret, and it is all right that you know."

"Oh?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why wasn't it okay before?"

"It was forbidden until you finished your first war," he said. "It has to do with the true origins of your armor and how I became the Ancient's student."

I felt like he was seriously nervous. "We won't judge you until you finish the story, if it's that serious- sounds like you did something naughty, Anubis."

"I would appreciate that, because yes, I did something, as you put it, 'naughty', which I've regretted ever since I saw the light," said Anubis. Once he said "saw the light", we knew that he'd done something REALLY bad. "One thousand years ago, a hundred years before Trulpa, there was another invasion from the Nether Realm. This was her brother, Talpa. He was as evil as Trulpa, but his armor was much more based apon attack magic. The Ancient battled him and was successful. He then created the original nine armors."

"Original?" asked Sara. "Are you trying to tell us there are MORE armors?"

"Yes. When Trulpa attacked, he based your armors off of the original nine. They're identical, only different because the original armors are mostly meant for men, although a female can wear it as sort of a holding space for a short amount of time," he said. 

"What does this have to do with you?" asked Ria.

"My part of the story begins four hundred years ago. I was a brave samurai warrior in ancient Japan. I became power hungry, liking the feel of conquering smaller villages. It was like a drug, sort of. Compared to my poor youth I enthralled in it. Then, I was visited by what was left of Talpa."

"Is he as ugly as Trulpa?" asked Ria.

"More so, I'd say. He told me that I was one of the bearers of the nine armors. The spring armor. The seasonal male armors, like the female, we also seduced to the Dynasty."

"You used to work for the Dynasty!?" asked Sam, standing up. She looked MAD. I think we were all on our feet for that one. "But, but, why?! The Dynasty is bad! They want to destroy this realm! How could you possibly want to hurt everything you grew up with?!"

"So how did you get the Staff?" I asked, trying to end Sam's rant. "If you were truly still with the Dynasty, the Staff wouldn't accept you, would it?"

That calmed the others down, and Anubis looked relieved. "Well, for many centuries, I was one of the four Dark Warlords. My comrades were Dais, Dark Warlord of Illusion, Cale, Dark Warlord of Darkness and Corruption, and Sehkment, Dark Warlord of Venom. Then, about a year ago, we were sent to attack again. As we expected there were five young Ronin Warriors waiting for us."

"Ronin Warriors, they must be the bearers of the male elemental armors," said Sara. 

"Yes. They, like you, were teenagers. We thought this was pathetic. We'd faced fully trained samurai in the past who had the same training we did. How could five youths in a world where the code of the samurai has faded into history possibly defeat us? We watched as a single soldier toyed with them as your first soldier did with you until the Wildfire boy let loose a strong Flare Up Now."

"Huh? What's that?" asked Ria.

"Oh! I forgot something, shoot," said Anubis. "When he made your armors, he gave them links to their respective armors. For some reason he erected barriers between the links preventing the males from using your elemental magic and keeping you from using their attack magic, known as sure kills. In other words, the attacks Sara, Keisha, and Sam can use. I haven't the slightest clue as to how you three got those powers but you aren't supposed to have them."

"Great," said Sara. "So what happened after that?"

"About half way through that war, I started to question Talpa. Eventually had had me brainwashed after Strata used his sure kill to break my helmet. The Ancient saved me and showed me the true path. That's when I bowed down to him. He sacrificed himself to help the Ronins soon afterwards. But even with him gone, the lessons he taught me remained. I fought against Talpa while he tried to reclaim his armor alongside Wildfire. I lost, leaving him to fight Talpa alone. Luckily for him and the Mortal Realm, he, too, discovered a White Armor was able to defeat Talpa and save his friends. After that battle, I began to train with the Staff and helped the Ronins in the second war. During that time Talpa unleashed Lady Kayura, one of the last living descendants of the Ancient's clan and the true heir to the Staff. I sacrificed my life to save her. I'm here today because I was somehow resurrected from the grave to train you girls," he said. "Why Kayura isn't here is a mystery to me. I know something dreadful must have happened to her, but I don't know what."

We were all in shock. Sam stood up. "I'm sorry Anubis, I can't trust you to not turn against us."

"I can't either," said Rona, joining her.

"What are you all talking about?!" I asked. "Anubis made some serious sacrifices for our world. So he made a mistake, big whoop!"

"Until I see one of these Ronin Warriors say he's forgiven him, I won't trust him," said Rona. With that, Strata and Halo left.


	12. Chapter Twelve

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Twelve: Customers

(Kento)

I kinda liked working for Madame Shinshu. She fed me well, kept a roof over my head, she was sorta like Mia. But I still felt alone. I missed the guys, but I wasn't sure who I missed the most. Sage and Cye, or everyone else back in Toyama? I knew Sage and Cye a LOT better than I knew Ryo and Rowen at that point, but it had been so long since I'd seen the latter. 

One night I was playing with my crystal ball. Madame Shinshu hadn't seen it yet, so she was a bit surprised when she saw me with it. "My, my, Kento, I had no idea you were interested in this field, or did it rub off on you?"

I shrugged. "Actually I'm kind of bored."

"Well, do you have talent with the crystal ball? Or are you just playing?" she asked, sitting the seat across from me, smiling sweetly. "How's about we try a little experiment tomorrow?"

"Experiment?" I asked, unsure of myself.

Madame Shinshu laughed. "Why don't we have you give the customers their readings?"

"Wha, wha, what?" I asked. "Me? Give the customers their readings?"

"All you need to do is take clues from their appearances, voices, and what they're wearing to make something up," said Madame Shinshu. "Then wave your hands around my crystal ball- yours is too. . . orange, and make something up."

My eyes widened. "So I'm just making something up?"

"Yes. You can even use tarot cards or read their palms, if you'd like," she said. "Come now, I'll show you how to do those, too."

~

The following day, Madame Shinshu worked the desk and stuck me in her "office". That was basically a room draped in all sorts of fancy curtains and junk. I was allowed to wear my regular clothing instead of the gaudy robes she usually wore when she was on the job.

I was kind of nervous. No one had come in yet, which wasn't much of a surprise. Madame Shinshu never got much of a crowd, anyways. So I say down in the chair, shuffled the tarots cards a few times, and took out a sketchbook that Madame Shinshu had given me. Why, I don't know, she just said, "Here, have a sketch book". Probably for some weird psychic experiment. 

Several drawings and bad poems later, the bell on the door to the office rung. I stuffed the notebook under my seat and waited patiently for my first customer to enter. It was a middle-aged woman with soft, peachy orange hair and pale green eyes. "Oh? Who are you?"

"I'm Kento. Madame Shinshu wasn't at the front desk?"

"No, it said to just go right in," she said. I blinked. "Are you all right?"

"She didn't tell me she was doing that. Maybe she went on her lunch break or something," I said.

"It's only ten thirty," said the woman.

"She keeps weird hours. Um, have a seat," I said. 

"Are you giving me my reading?" she asked skeptically.

I nodded. "I guess she wanted a break so she told me to do it. You're not a regular, are you?"

"No," she said.

"I didn't think so," I said. Now what? "Um, can I see your palm?"

The woman laughed. "All right, don't you want my name?"

"No, that's okay Janet," I said.

"How did you know my name?"

I blinked. How DID I know her name? "Uh, I don't know, Ms. Jefferson."

"That's my last name, too!" she said, in shock. "Well, you're a very impressive young psychic!"

I gulped. She held her palm out and I closed my eyes, slowly going over the soft lines. I didn't quite understand Madame Shinshu's systems of lines and finger lengths, so I decided I'd wing it. But then again, I knew her whole name and the fact she was single, so maybe I'd find something here. "You have two dogs, Minnie and Mickey. Poodles, and you breed them. Minnie is expecting another litter for sometime later this month?"

"That's right!" said Janet. "What else can you see?"

This was getting weird. Things about this woman were just, coming to me. "Your mother used to make you wear these horrendous pink dresses to school everyday until you were fourteen, when you finally stood up to her about it. Shortly after that you got your first boyfriend, Mike."

"That's amazing!" she said. "We know enough about my past. What about my future?"

I turned to the crystal ball. I waved my hands around it a few times and saw a vision of a tall man with dark hair and blue eyes within the mists of the crystal ball. He was wearing a tuxedo and smiling. "I see a tall man with blue eyes. He's wearing a tuxedo and he's got a wide grin on his face."

"That must be Alex, my fiancé," said Janet.

"Wait- there's more," I said, holding up my hand. I watched as he and Janet were at an outdoor wedding when a man wearing a black sweatshirt and black pants shot the groom from a bush. "Hola! Your fiancé got shot at the wedding!"

"WHAT!?" asked Janet.

"I'm not kidding," I said. "I swear I saw the guy get shot. I don't' like this anymore!" I looked back up at the woman, who was now frantic. "The wedding was outdoors. I'd suggest jacking up security and moving the wedding indoors."

"Done," said Janet. "Are you sure?"

_I can't believe this woman is practically letting me plan her wedding for her, _I thought to myself. "Well, the crystal just changed to a happy honeymoon in France."

"How do you know it's in France?"

"How many countries do you know of have the Eiffel Tower?"

"One," said Janet. "Oh, we wanted to go to Paris, too! You're incredible!"

"Um, thank you," I said. "I'm really creeped out now but maybe I've stumbled onto a. . . gift."

"Share it with the world! I'll talk to him about moving it indoors. There was this one chapel he wanted to go to. Oh! It'll be perfect!" she said. Janet stood up, reached into her purse, and laid a bill on the table. "You deserve it! Bye!"

With that, Ms. Janet Jefferson ran out the door. I picked up the bill and whistled. "Hello, President Grant," I said. I shook my head again. How the heck did I know who that guy on the fifty-dollar bill was!? I never paid attention in American history!

I sat down. "This is just too weird," I said. "I'm psychic! How the heck did THAT happen!?" I put my head and my arms down on the table, trying to think things through.

Another customer walked in. "Hello, Mr. Drake.

"How the heck did you know my name? Or even sex, for crying out loud!?" a male voice said. I lifted my head up. "All right, give me my reading, kid, and make it snappy."

I didn't like this guy, so I hoped for something bad. I almost smiled as I saw the guy getting himself fired at his job. "Your boss has some important news to tell you," I said. 

Mr. Drake smiled. "Oh good, he's giving me the promotion and the raise I've been telling him to give me. The man is SOO stupid," he said. He slammed a five onto the table. "Go buy yourself a condom, kid."

I blushed at the comment. I didn't have a girlfriend and that would not be the reason I'd get a girlfriend. "Hope he has something good on his resume," I said. "He's gonna need it."


	13. Chapter Thirteen

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirteen: Disappearing Senshi

(Keisha)

Two days went by and Sam and Rona still hadn't spoken to any of us. Anubis was especially disturbed. Given what he'd done was probably pretty bad, but he was trying to repent for what he'd done and from what I could tell he was doing a darn good job at it. Having them break of from the rest of us must have been tearing him apart.

Ria, Sara and I were at my house, discussing what Anubis had told us. We hadn't come up with anything, aside from Sara wondering if the Ronin Warrior of Torrent was cute. Ria snapped back by saying that Wildfire was probably some sort of a super model, and the two of them started going at it. And about guys they hadn't even met!

"I'm telling you, Sara, the Wildfire guy is the leader! The leader's ALWAYS the best looking!" said Ria. "You probably got the nerd inventor guy with the Coke-bottle glasses and pocket protectors."

"Nuh-uh!" said Sara. "I probably got the WAY cute surfer guy."

"Yeah right, Sara, I doubt-"

RING-RING!

I leapt over the couch to grab the phone, glad that something had popped up to take my attention away from the other two Senshi. I saw Evan also making it for the phone. I reached down and casually picked up the phone as my brother dove into the couch, successfully causing my friends to yelp from surprise. Sara even drew her dagger, standing on the couch and whipping her head around. 

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hello, Keisha?"

"Oh, hi Ella, how's Sam?"

A dreary silence was on the other end of the line. "You mean you girls aren't on another mission?"

I froze. "What?"

"Sam, when she went to your meeting, she hasn't come home since! Rona's father called as well, and Rona hasn't come home yet, either!" she said. I could tell Sam's normally bubbly aunt was near hysterics.

"Well I'm sure they're okay and that they're together. They got mad at Anubis over something I'll tell you later and they stormed out," I said. By now Ria, Evan, and Sara had turned their full attention to me and the phone.

"What?" asked Ella.

"Well, he had kind of a dark past he didn't tell us about and the two of them got really mad."

"How bad?"

"Used to work for Trulpa's brother bad."

"Well, are you sure they're okay?"

I tried to smile. "They'll probably come back when they're done blowing steam," I said. 

"Yeah, I guess so. Knowing Sam it could be a week!" said Ella. "All right, I feel a little better about it, thank you. Good bye, Keisha. Say hi to your parents for me."

"Okay, by Ella," I said, hanging up the phone. "Sam and Rona haven't been at their homes since the meeting."

"That isn't good, is it?" said Evan.

"Hello!? With Trulpa still out there she might have them!" said Ria. 

"I think Trulpa would have let us know that by now," said Sara. "She would have dangled them in front of our faces and started taunting us. She hasn't got them, yet."

"Well, we still need to find them," I said. "I'm gonna start calling some of their other friends."

"Think about how many friends Rona has," said Sara. "A LOT."

I groaned. Rona's repertoire of boyfriends was very wide spread. "I'll be making phone calls all night!"  
"I'll do it, Keisha, and I'll get Anubis and Mike to start calling around, too," said Evan, getting up off the floor.

"Evan, today you're saint," I said.

"Today?" he asked.

"Sometimes, between you and Trev, you're the devil," said Sara. "Let's start checking out some of their hang-outs and secret spots."

"Then we'll panic if we can't find them," said Ria. 

"Does that actually help?" I asked.

"No, but knowing how we react that's what we'll do."

~

After a few hours of searching Boston and a few of the surrounding cities, we came up empty handed. As did Evan and everyone he'd gotten to help with the phones. Sara even suggested going to the police. Eventually, Anubis had what was left of the Senshi, Ella, Mr. Santana, Ria's Aunt Sally, Evan, and Trevor gathered in Mike's living room.

"No, we can't go to the police," said Anubis. "That could be dangerous."

"Well, can't that magic staff of yours do something?" asked Mr. Santana. 

Anubis sighed. "The Staff isn't good at locating Senshi like this. It can hunt down the holding places of the armors but not the bearers themselves or the armors on the bearers. If they were close by it would be a different story."

"They probably took off on Rona's motorcycle," said Sally. "Might've gone up to New Hampshire or down to Rhode Island or Connecticut for all we know. And with all the time that's passed they could easily be in New York!"

"That isn't good," said Ria, cringing. "But I don't think they went that far."

"Why's that?" asked Sally.

"Because they knew that Trulpa's going to start a second war. Kaze wasn't exactly a push-over," said Sara.

Mr. Santana folded his armors. "I'm still worried. Having my daughter running off and fighting wars on a level that I can't even comprehend isn't what I'd call comforting," he said.

"I'll agree with you on that, but the armors choose who they believe is the best suited to win against the Dynasty. So far these girls are the best picks yet," said Anubis.

"Really?" I asked. "We're the best picks?"

"As are the current Ronin Warriors. You're all brave, powerful, and excellent welders of your respective magic powers," said Anubis. "Yes there are a few hot heads, but this is expected."

"Yeah, the gung-ho morons are part of the driving force," said Sara.

Anubis sighed heavily. "To think Torrents are generally laid back and passive."

"Laid back and passive? Sara? You gotta be kidding me," I said.

"Most of the Torrents I've met are calm, quiet, and a lot less aggressive than this one, here," said Anubis. 

Ria smiled. "And what about the other armors?" she asked. "In fact, what can you say about these Ronin Warriors?"

Anubis sighed. "They're in Japan and the likely hood of you meeting them is highly unlikely," he said.

"But what if Trulpa and Talpa unite or something?" I asked. 

"Trulpa and Talpa hate each other with a passion ever since a fight they had a hundred years ago over something that happened the last time the two groups of Ronins united. The two Halos, a young man named Nako and a young woman named Sachi got their hands on a big project that they were working on. After they started blaming each other they became something short of enemies," he said.

"What was it they stole?" I asked.

The former Warlord sighed. "I haven't the slightest clue, but it was important. Brenamon and her now dead husband, Badamon, were up in a tight know over that one for quite a while."

"So why are you avoiding telling us about the Ronin Warriors?" asked Mr. Santana.

"I don't know, I feel odd about telling you about them without their permission, I guess. I respect them as warriors, friends, and allies. It seems almost disgraceful," said Anubis. "But perhaps you will meet them. It could very well happen."

Ria stood up. "Tomorrow I'm going to China Town," she announced.

"Why?" asked Evan. 

"I heard rumors about a psychic who's amazingly accurate. I want to see if this guy can help us figure out where Sam and Rona took off to," said Ria.

"I'll go!" said Sara. 

"I'd rather not," I said.

Trevor grinned. "Afraid you're gonna get bested by some Average Joe, Keisha?"

"No!" I said. "I just think I'd do more if I'm out on the street using my own powers, thank you very much!"

"Trev, leave Keisha alone," said Sara.

Trevor laughed before Sara kicked him.

"Where's this guy at?" asked Anubis.

"A studio owned by a woman named Madame Shinshu. I heard she's getting a ton of money from this kid," said Sara.

"That name rings a bell," said Anubis. "But why?"

"Well, let's all get home and let you figure it okay, okay, Anubis?" said Evan. 

Anubis nodded as we exchanged good-byes and left.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fourteen: Special Customers

(Kento)

News about my talent spread like wildfire-sorry, semi-bad unintended pun- around Boston. Madame Shinshu seemed VERY pleased with my new powers and had me working with the crystal ball and the tarot cards full time now while she was at the desk. I got a wide variety of customers, ranging from business men to high school drop-outs. I even got a few kids my age. Including this one guy that I had to tell pretty early into the reading that I didn't swing his way.   
I still got goosed on his way out.

I know what some of you are thinking. Why didn't I break his arm or introduce him to my fist? Since being a captive in the Dynasty for almost a year, I learned a tough lesson about being the tough guy. I've considerably mellowed out. Oh, I can still throw some nasty cracks and I'm still not the brightest crayon in the box, but I'm not going to rush idiotically into battle like I used to. I know where that'll get me now.

I was looking through my tips and wondering how I was going to blow it when I felt a powerful presence enter the studio. My armor reacted, but not in the way I expected it to. Normally it forces me into a fighting stance. But it made me feel calm and at ease. 

I looked up and saw two slightly familiar girls sit down across from me. "Hello, ladies," I said. Where THEY what I was feeling? "What can I do for you today, Ria and Sara, is it?"

"He IS good, Ria," said the smaller of the girls. Sara (process of elimination, there) had deep, kind of silky looking blue hair that cascaded over her shoulders. Her eyes were large and a friendly shade of pink, making the rest of her already small and fine facial features look even smaller. But she was still kind of pretty, none the less.

Her friend, Ria, had short red hair with almost unsightly blackened ends. They looked like they'd been burned into her hair. Green eyes with a playful tone to them gave her friend a look as she half smiled. Somehow she reminded me of Ryo. 

I decided that I had to figure out what made them so special before I gave them the reading or I might say something I'd regret. For some reason the girl with the blue hair stuck out.

THEN I remembered where I saw her. _Uh oh, two of the Ronin Senshi. Great, do I reveal myself and say, "Hi, I'm Kento of the Hardrock, one of the Ronin Warriors, how's it goin', Senshi babes?" or do I keep my mouth shut? _I wondered. Sara had been the Senshi I'd seem first and foremost when Cye, Sage and I were watching them to see how they were fairing against Trulpa.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Ria said suddenly.

"Uh, I'm fine," I said. 

Sara sighed. "I don't believe you but I won't push it. We're looking for two of our friends."

"Rona and Sam?" I asked. An image of the Strata girl and Sage's female half entered my head. 

"Yup, that's them. They kind of got mad at a friend of ours and left town. They've been gone for a few days and we want to find them," said Sara. 

I pulled out my crystal ball. MY crystal ball. "Well, let's see what we can do about it, then."

"Hey, what you're name?" asked Ria. 

"Ken-"

"Ken, that's a nice name," said Sara, interrupting me before I could finish.

"Actually it's Kento," I said. _Oh, nice one, what if they go back and tell Anubis they met a nice, Chinese looking psychic named Kento? _I thought miserably. _Let's hope not. Shoulda stayed with Ken. _

"Kento? That's a weird name," said Sara. "Ah well, nice to meet you, Kento."

"Nice to meet you too," I said, trying to smile.

I began to wave my hands over the crystal ball. "Let's see what we can find here." The image began to swirl and soon I could see an image of a girl on a motorcycle. "I see a girl on a blue motorcycle."

"Driving it?" asked Ria.

"Yes."

"That's Rona, where's Sam?"

I concentrated harder. "I can't seem to find her."

"Well, where would you say Rona is?" asked Sara.

I sighed heavily. "This stupid thing is deciding to be very, very vague today. It said somewhere to the North. For all you know it could be the next town up or Canada."

"Heh, Rona and Sam go Canadian," said Sara.

Ria frowned. "It's not funny. Sam's missing in that picture, and she might be in trouble." She looked up at me. "Sure you don't see her?"  
"Positive," I said. "But I do know I have an uneasy feeling about her where she is. I feel there may be trouble, but I'm not sure."

Sara frowned. "Well, thank you for your help. Bye!" she said. Ria laid a ten-dollar bill on the table as they two walked out. I sat at the table, thinking about what had just happened.

_One of the Senshi is in danger. But how can I help? _I thought to myself. _Why am I so nervous to go right out and confront the Senshi, tell them who I am, and offer to help?_

Well, there was always the possibility that Anubis might have not told them about his past yet, and I didn't want him in trouble with the girls. Plus, maybe I was still scared of the dependency, although the threat of it happening was way past long gone.

I had to cut my trail of thought when another customer arrived.

~

That night, I was up late in my room. Well, it was a fairly small room with just about nothing more than a bed and a dresser that kept what little I had for clothing, but it was all I needed. Sure it wasn't the big, luxurious suite that Trulpa had given me to try and coax me and my friends into joining the Dynasty, but I felt at ease knowing that I wasn't in the Dynasty. The room got hot easily, so I was wearing a pair of denim shorts and nothing else. The cool breeze felt nice against my skin from the open window. Still, my little room made me feel safe.

On occasion I did feel a hint of danger, but I tried to ignore it. Still, knowing two of the Senshi had run off with at least one of them in possible trouble made me wonder if that was what I was feeling. I sighed heavily and fingered my armor orbe, which was safely in my possession once again. Sometime after Madame Shinshu took me in I discovered it in my pocket, which was a HUGE relief. Now I could fight if I wanted too.

Or would my skills as a mage turn out to be a better choice?

"So what am I know, anyways?" I asked. Warrior? Or a mage? I'd been forced to train as a mage, in a way, but the skills could be useful. The earthquakes I could create were pretty strong and the jewels I'd fashioned would probably be worth thousands for their size and elegant cuts.

I felt a cool hand on my bare shoulder. I turned to see Madame Shinshu in a way that really scared me. "Madame Shinshu?" I asked.

"Come with me, my little fortune teller," she said, her voice taking on an icy demonic tone to it. My armor reacted wildly. I sent a kick to her head and knocked her out. Her form shifted into that of a blue-faced demon with very large fangs and fingernails as long as pencils. 

I wasted no time in quickly getting dressed before jumping out the window. I backed away as I saw her followed me. "Oh just great," I said. "Now I've got ANOTHER demon woman after my hide."


	15. Chapter Fifteen

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifteen: The Ronin Senshi Get a Clue

(Keisha)

While Ria and Sara were at the (stupid) fortune teller, I went back to Mike's to talk with Anubis. Lately, Anubis hadn't been leaving home much. I guess he felt somewhat guilty about Sam and Rona running off like they did. While agreed that yes, Anubis should've told us sooner (we didn't have to know about Talpa- saying "I used to work for the Dynasty" wouldn't have made us any wiser about the other Ronins), they chose to the wrong solution.

I found him in the living room, curled up on the love seat. "Hi, Anubis," I said, walking over to him.

Slowly, Anubis lifted his head. He had heavy bags under his eyes and looked dead tired. _He hasn't been getting any sleep,_ I thought. _He looks awful. _"Hello, Keisha," he said, half interested.

I sat next to his depressed form. "Don't feel bad about it. You had to do what you had to do," I said, placing a hand on his back. "I'm sure they'll forgive you eventually."

"Sam had trouble trusting men. I've shattered any hope she had of learning to trust again," he said. "Of course I'm going to feel rotten about this! Keisha, she trusted me. She might trust Mike. But all that's gone now! I'm a failure!"

I played with a few strands of his hair. I've always loved his hair. "Anubis, you're not a failure. You trained five girls how to use magic, fighting skills, and weapons some of us haven't ever even heard of before," I said. "Maybe by some twist of fate she'll run into Halo boy and he'll help her," I said. 

Anubis chuckled. "Sage did seem to have that effect on women," he said.

"Sage? Is that the Ronin Warrior of Halo?"

"Yes. Ironically his hair is almost identical to Sam's style," he said, sitting up. He drew me a quick sketch of a head and a crop of hair. "The fey lock is over the opposite side. I almost burst out laughing when you girls told me who she was."

I smiled, tracing the picture. The picture was poorly drawn, but even so, I could probably spot the guy if I saw him due to the wild hairstyle he sported. "You really do miss them, don't you?" I asked. 

"Kind of," said Anubis. "But they think I'm dead, and my responsibilities lie here."

"Anubis, I've been wondering, why didn't you tell us this up front?" I asked.

"The Law of Dependency. It's forbidden that the male armors assist the females until a second war arises or one of them is killed. The only reason I could help was because I got permission from the Ancient, and I can feel the link to my old armor has weakened sincerely," he said.

My mind flashed back to the moments before my possession, during my conversation with the spirit I'd encountered. Something about what the spirit said to me had been nagging me for the past few months, and it was starting to nag me again.

_How many time do I have to tell you? I want desperately to help you. I hate Trulpa. But destiny forbids me to help you! Please try to understand!_

"Forbidden," I said. 

_How many time do I have to tell you? I want desperately to help you. I hate Trulpa. But destiny forbids me to help you! Please try to understand!_

"Keisha?" asked Anubis. "What do you mean?"

__

How many time do I have to tell you? I want desperately to help you. I hate Trulpa. But destiny forbids me to help you! Please try to understand!

"Something's trying to tell me something, but I can't figure it out," I said.

__

How many time do I have to tell you? I want desperately to help you. I hate Trulpa. But destiny forbids me to help you! Please try to understand!

Anubis sat up. "Did I trigger something?"

_How many time do I have to tell you? I want desperately to help you. I hate Trulpa. But destiny forbids me to help you! Please try to understand!_

"I think things might be piecing together. The voice in the Dynasty I heard."

Anubis cocked an eyebrow. "Exactly what did this mysterious voice of yours say, Keisha?"

"It said it hated Trulpa and that it wanted to help me but. . . destiny. . . forbade. . . Holy smokes!" I said, leaping to my feet. I knew what was going on. Forbidden. Wanted to help me. Hated Trulpa. I hadn't been talking to a spirit- I'd been talking to one of the Ronin Warriors! "Anubis, Trulpa must've kidnapped one of the Ronin Warriors!"

"What!?" asked Anubis, getting to his feet as well.

"The Law of Dependency says that the Ronin Warriors can't help the Senshi until after they've fought at least one war. We were in the first war when I contacted the spirit. I must've accidentally contacted one of them and they somehow knew about Trulpa and the Ronin Senshi! They also must know about that stupid dependency!"

Anubis' eyes widened. "They never knew about you girls to my knowledge, never mind the Dependency." Then, he narrowed his eyes. "But why?"

"Why what?" I asked. 

"Why would Trulpa want the Ronins- Kaze!" he said.

My eyes widened. "You think that Trulpa used one or more Ronins to create Kaze?" I asked.

Anubis nodded. "Kaze was a tri-mutantal," he said. His eyes widened as he realized something. "That would also explains why some of the powers didn't affect you girls! Partners in arms can't hurt each other!"

"The lightning attack came this Sage guy. The earth attack came from Hardrock. The water attack came from Torrent," I said. I sat down. "It must've been Hardrock I contacted. We have the same armor. Well, sort of. It makes sense that I'd somehow contact him."

Anubis sat down. "It seems as if those three got into even more trouble," he said. 

I looked up. "Hmm?"

"Before I died, during their second war, the three of them were captured by Talpa and subjected to some very harsh torture. Talpa forced the other two to watch him do it."

I gasped. "How?"

"A strong current of negative power was sent surging through their bodies. It was only because of their armors that they weren't killed," said Anubis. "It was sickening. The three of them were younger than the other two by just about a whole year. Ryo of the Wildfire felt powerless to help them, despite the Armor of the Inferno, the White Armor I mentioned."

"But why would Trulpa single them out?" I asked. "So they're younger- Talpa tried that game and apparently lost."

Anubis raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. I would assume she'd go after Ryo or even Rowen of the Strata first- they're both very strong. That is odd. . ."

"I have a feeling age wasn't the only factor," I said. "We need to figure this out-"

"The fortune teller guy said he felt something to the north."

Anubis and I turned to see Ria and Sara come in. Ria sat down, folding her arms and looking at us expectantly. Sara stood over Ria's perch, her forearms resting on the back of the chair. "The north?" I asked.

"He couldn't find an exact location, but he said to try the north and that Sam might be in big trouble," said Ria. She snorted. "Poor guy looked like he was hiding something. Hope he didn't get a glance at any Dynasty related stuff or else Trulpa will be after his hide."

"Well, Anubis and I pieced together a lot of information," I said, summing up what Anubis and I had gone over. My fellow Senshi looked interested, Wildfire nodding along as Sara added the occasional "you're kidding me" or "oh my God" type comment.

"So Trulpa's had three of them captive for a long time?" asked Sara.

"Yes," said Anubis. "Well, at least since your first war."

"Do you that Talpa might've accidentally broken the barriers between the Halo, Torrent, and Hardrock armors when he captured them?" asked Sara. "I mean, all that power must've left SOME long term affects."

I blinked. "Duh! Those three were singled out by Trulpa, we can use sure-kills, I bet you're onto something, there! I bet that's even where that weird thingy that happened to us came from! We told you about the weird levitation thing, Anubis, remember?"

"Yes. I'm afraid you had to share their pain," he said, looking oddly uncomfortable. "You described it as being similar to electrocution. That's pretty much what Talpa did to them."

"So then one of them is in Boston, since we saw one of the energies escape," said Ria. "But where is he? And does he speak English?"

Sara sat down. "That means that two of them are still in the Dynasty," she said, shaking her head. "Trulpa must be doing something awful to them. I hope they're all right."

I leaned up against a wall, folding my arms and crossing my legs. "Well, we know that Ryo of the Wildfire and Rowen of the Strata are in Japan, probably. Sage of the Halo we have a slight composite off."

Ria picked up Anubis' sketch. "Don't quit your day job."

"That leaves Torrent and Hardrock," I said. "Tell us about the other two."

"I think Cye can speak English. His Japanese was pretty weak and it sounded like it may have come from this tongue," he said. "He also didn't look very Japanese."

"What's he look like?" asked Sara.

"Kind of short, auburn hair, green or blue eyes, but . . . it's been a while," he said. 

"Maybe we could ask that Kento guy if he can help us find them," said Sara, smiling as she said so.

Anubis looked ready to choke. "Kento?"

"The fortune teller we went to see. Nice guy, kind of cute. Why?" asked Ria.

Sara seemed to catch onto Anubis' sudden face fault. "The Ronin Warrior of Hardrock is named Kento," she concluded. Anubis nodded. Suddenly, I felt like an idiot for not going with the other two to check out the fortune teller.

"Describe him a little more," asked Anubis. "You might be onto something. For all we know it could be another Kento, but. . . no, the coincidence is too great to ignore."

"He had this dark, bluish-black hair that was down to his chin, big blue eyes, Chinese, and a headband kinda like Keisha's," said Ria. "Big guy, but not fat big- muscle big. Kind has Mr. Santana's build without the gut."

"That's our man!" said Anubis, standing up excitedly.

Ria narrowed her eyes. "He looked nervous about something, like he was avoiding something. Maybe he was afraid to let us know who he was?"

"I don't know but we've got to find him. He might know what Trulpa's up to," said Anubis. "And why she grabbed him and the other two."


	16. Chapter Sixteen

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Sixteen: The Truth About Madame Shinshu

(Kento)

I made it to a field in a town outside of Boston. "I've got to stop running eventually," I said to myself, catching my breath against a tall oak. I was breathing hard, not at all pleased with my situation. I was in huge trouble, and I was alone. I should have gone with Ria and Sara! Then I could have found some help from Anubis. Yes, help from Anubis and the Senshi would be good.

I sat down and looked up at the stars. I wondered briefly if Rowen was up there, floating amongst the stars. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I remembered he and Ryo thought I was dead. I wasn't even sure if Yuli still believed in us. 

"I want to go home," I said. I did miss home. I missed my parents. I missed my little siblings. I missed Mia. I missed Ryo, and Rowen, and White Blaze, I missed everything about Japan I'd grown to love! I missed Sage and Cye, still trapped in the Dynasty. "Damn you, Trulpa."

I stood up and brushed my tears away. I had to figure out a way to get Madame Shinshu off my back. But how? Go get help from the Senshi and damage my male pride? Okay, if I need help I need help, even if it is from females. And Anubis wasn't a female, now was he? Or do I try and take her myself? _No, you shouldn't try to take on a crazed demon you know nothing about by yourself. That's PURE stupidity._

"There you are!"

"Crap," I said, barely avoiding her claws slashing into the tree trunk. I leapt a good ways away, landing on a knee, a foot, and a hand. I stared her down, getting aggravated. "What the hell do you want!?"

"You!" The demon that had once been Madame Shinshu leapt out at me again, slashing wildly. This time, she'd shrunken to a deformed little blue. . . thing, in a gray, tattered dress. She still wore the turban, her eyes now bright yellow. 

"Okay, next question. What the hell are YOU!?" I asked, backflipping out of the way as she tried to attack me again. "Who do you work for and why do you need me?" Well, if she worked for Trulpa the answer was obvious, but still. . .

"I work for no one. I feed off of the souls of young human males with the gift of psychic powers," said the demon. "I am known as Shinshu. Quite lucky for me that you were a psychic male, ne?"

"I'm not just a psychic!" I said. I reached above my head and summoned my staff. I twirled it around before holding it in a defensive position. I was gonna fight her as a sorcerer. If I fought her as a warrior, then I might destroy some private property I couldn't afford to pay for. Besides, I hadn't used my sure-kill in a very long time and I wasn't sure how rusty I was or wasn't with it. 

Shinshu hissed. "A Ronin Warrior!"

"Oh, glad you've heard of us," I said. "But not JUST a Ronin Warrior, Shinshu. A few barriers have broken and I've got the Ronin Senshi's elemental magic on my side, too!" I started thinking over the spells I knew, trying to decide which would be best against my enemy. Something that could at least render her unconscious. Then, I could try and make a break for it to prepare something bigger.

Shinshu laughed. "Ha! I'm twice as powerful as that! You won't be a problem, Hardrock." Well, she seemed pretty damn confident. If I played my cards right, though, she'd be pretty damn dead.

"You wanna bet?" I said, preparing a small energy based attack. I didn't want to revert to anything big. Yet. That would happen when it got really bad and it was that or get killed. Shinshu cawed and leapt out of the way, the attack hitting the oak I'd found temporary relief from. 

"Weak!" she said, preparing an energy ball similar to mine. I barely knocked it away with my naginata. I looked at the space where three trees once stood, vaporized by the attack after it struck.

"Ouch," I said, biting my lip. _Hmm, this is going to be a little tougher than I thought. . ._

Shinshu laughed hysterically, eyeing me once more. "Oh, what's a matter, Hardrock, are you SCARED!?"  
"Uh, no?" I said, trying to laugh. 

"LIAR!"

"Well. . . maybe," I said, ducking to avoid her next attack. 

_All right, Kento of the Hardrock, confess._

I almost stopped to listen to the voice of my partner in arms, Keisha, Hardrock of the Senshi. She knew who I was. . . _How did you know who I am?_

Anubis told us about the Ronins and Sara accidentally identified you. Now, where are you? Madame Shinshu's studio is deserted but Anubis is thoroughly convinced you were there.

Heh, wouldn't you know she turned out to be a soul sucking demon that gives me one look and thinks "dinner". 

Want help?

"DIE!" A huge attack was sent my way. I screamed and leapt into the air, transforming into subarmor at the same time. It was my best chance at surviving aside from the Armor of the Hardrock if she actually hit me.

_Actually, I'd like that, thank you._

Where are you?

No idea. A big field. If you see fireworks you're on the right track.

Funny, ha-ha. 

I know, aren't I?

Just shut up and keep yourself from getting killed.

Easier said than done, she's psycho demon. And a powerful one at that. Plus ugly. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!

Just hold on, we'll get there as fast as we can.

Keisha, if you don't' get here in time, I just want to apologize for not helping you when you were getting possessed.

Kento. . .

I avoided several attacks during that time. She wasn't giving me a chance to create my own attacks. I was getting more and more nervous, and kind of tired. The demon was like the Energizer bunny and wasn't about to give up or pass out anytime soon. Shinshu was going to kill me.

Eventually, she lost her balance and gave me a chance to send an attack her way. It was stronger and faster than my last one, which I hoped would buy me a little more time. Maybe the Ronin Senshi and Anubis could get here before I got killed. I hit her, but she just got mad and her attacks got more frenzied.

"AHH!" Shinshu finally hit me. It was a nice hit to leg, but it sent me to the ground and I could barely stand up. I could feel it swelling beneath my subarmor. I looked over as she began to walk towards me. I tried to think of something, anything that could possibly keep me from getting killed. Before I could cast a spell or make a break, I fell to the ground and hurt my leg even more. I wasn't going anywhere, and that was a pretty darn BAD thing.

"Today's a good day to die, isn't it?" said Shinshu.

"Go to Hell," I said. 

Shinshu clucked her tongue. "Now, now, watch that tongue of yours, Kento. You really were my favorite student. Pity I have to kill you now." With that, she snapped her fingers and a giant scythe appeared in her hands. 

"I'm not dying tonight," I said. Actually, I wasn't one hundred percent confidant that was going to be true.

"Says you," said Shinshu. "Now, should I render you unconscious before I take your soul, or should I let you be aware of the excruciating pain of your soul being ripped from your body?"

She was getting closer. NOW I was really scared. I couldn't move. "Prepare to die, boy." She raised her arms ready to give me another attack. I closed my eyes, waiting for the attack to hit. _So, this is what it's like to know you're about to die. . ._

SWACK!

I opened my eyes to see a slender body in orange, white, and black subarmor standing over me. Hardrock of the Senshi had come to my rescue.

"You all right, Kento?" she asked, concentrating on Shinshu.

"Um, I'll be fine once my leg heals up a bit," I said. She looked down at me and smiled sweetly. My partner in arms was a kind of cute African girl with amber colored eyes and soft looking black hair. She had an almost playful, care-free look to her that made me feel safe despite my intense situation. I smiled back at her. 

"If you think you can fight, go ahead, Anubis and my friends aren't going to be here for a while," she said. "They were distracted by your old friends the Dark Warlords."

"Great, just what I needed to hear," I said. "I think I can cast a few spells from here, just watch out, she's one powerful demon lady."

Keisha looked confused by what I'd told her, but prepared to fight Shinshu anyways. I hoped she was going to be okay. . .


	17. Chapter Seventeen

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Seventeen: Finding Hardrock

(Keisha)

Once we figured out the fortune teller was, indeed, Kento of the Hardrock, we high-tailed it to China Town. Boston, being Boston, made it difficult to get there. We were all crammed into my car, Anubis trying to figure out what Trulpa could use their powers for aside from Kaze. AND what energy substance #4 was. But I had to concentrate on driving.

"I hate red lights," I said miserably. We were stuck in some nasty traffic and all the beeping horns were adding to my stress. Little did I know, but what little grip I had was about to be tested.

"I like traffic lights, I like traffic lights, I like traffic lights, but only when they're green," sang Ria from the back seat in an obviously fake British accent. "I like traffic lights, I-"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled. "This is EXTREMELY frustrating!" (Dixxy's Note: I hear you, Keisha. Kids that were on a bus I was on would sing that non-stop all the time. . .)

"Keisha's right, Ria," said Sara. "Look, we're in deep trouble and we need to find him again, okay?"

"Walking would be faster," said Anubis.

I sighed. "Too late now," I said. "Besides, I needed the gas anyways."

"Looks like it's going down the drain," said Sara. "How many traffic lights are in Boston?"

"Too many. But someone was seriously high when they laid out the street plan," said Ria. "Think it was crack, pot, or beer?"

"Probably opium," said Sara, trying to look thoughtful. "That was the big drug back a long time ago. Although I think morphine was big, too-"

"QUIT IT!"

Ria closed her eyes. Deciding that I was in a bad mood (Which, granted I WAS), she changed the subject. "So, Anubis, exactly what happens when two armor bearers of the same kind meet? Say, Hardrock and Hardrock?"

Anubis shrugged. "It depends on the armor bearers. Ronins have married outside of the armors, before, if THAT'S what you're getting at," he said. "They haven't lived to have children, but no, you aren't promised to them or anything, if you're concerned about being betrothed without you or your families knowing-"

"No, just curious," said Ria. "I mean, I guess I don't like the idea of being promised to some guy I don't even know."

"I'm sure they'd feel the same way," he said. "But no, Anubra and I pretty much hated each other any time we had to work together. On the other hand, Sehkment and Vanessa were usually all over each other."

"The Warlords and Warladies are weird," I said. "Let's get to that stupid studio already."

~

When we arrived at Madame Shinshu's studio, it had already closed for the day. "Drats, said Ria. "Great, anyone know where she lives?"

"I thought she lived here, too," said Sara. "Keisha? I have an idea."

I looked at Sara suspiciously. "Yes, Sara?"

"Why don't you try to talk to him like you did in the Dynasty?" she asked.

Anubis smacked his forehead. "That would have been SOOO much easier."

"No kidding," I said. "Okay, let's see if I can locate him."

~

It had taken me a good amount of time- a few hours to even get a hold onto Kento's mental telepathy range so I could talk to him. As it would turn out, Madame Shinshu was a demon woman that was trying to kill him, but I lost contact with him before I could figure out where he was.

After Kento cut off from me, I knew the danger of Madame Shinshu's demonic form was getting worse. Ria, Sara, Anubis, and I were in the abandoned psychic studio, trying to figure out what field Kento was in. There were a lot of fields in the towns surrounding Boston.

"Keisha, you're a psychic, try to find his location," said Sara.

I sighed. "My head's hurting," I said. "That took a lot of work to find him the first time."

"Well, just try to find a trail of his essence and follow it," said Anubis.

"Oh, I like that idea!" I said. We left the shop and I concentrated on that. Yup, I could find a strong "scent". Well, it didn't smell, but my psychic powers picked up on it pretty quickly. We were about to get on the trail when we heard echoing laughs. 

"Uh oh," said Anubis. "The Dark Warlords."

"I thought you said they changed sides!" said Sara.

Anubis gulped. "They could've changed back or have been brainwashed."

"Well at least we know that coming back from the dead didn't kill any brain cells, traitor." We turned to see a man in dark jeans, a dark leather jacket, and wild, green hair. His eyes were large and snake-like, only tiny dots serving as his pupils.

"Sehkment!" said Anubis. "What has happened to you?!"

"Trulpa showed them back to Dynasty, Anubis. It's so nice to finally meet you," said another voice. This was a blonde man with sharp, green eyes and soft, almost shaggy looking hair. 

"Who the hell are you?" asked Anubis.

"Why, I'm Osiris, Dark Warlord of Cruelty," said the man. "I'm the new bearer of your old armor."

Anubis looked wide eyed as another man jumped down. This guy had long, white hair and an eye path over one eye. "So looks like we'll have to kill you and these little Senshi brats."

"Dais, fight whatever spell Trulpa has placed over you!" Anubis said, already in the robes of the Ancient.

Ria leaned back to whisper in my ear. "Sara and I will take care of these losers. Get to Hardrock," she said. I nodded as Ria and Sara armored up.

"Hey, Captain Ugly!" Sara yelled at Dais. "Bet ya can't catch me!"

"Why you little brat!" said Dais, transforming into his own, forest green subarmor and chasing after Sara, who led him on a via the roof tops. Ria then came up with an interesting comment I'm not gonna repeat for Sehkment before he got mad as well. Once Anubis and Osiris began, er, circling around each other and growling, I began to follow the trail.

~

I was led somewhere a few miles outside of Boston when I heard the sounds of a battle. I looked on to see who must have been Kento dodging attacks by a weird, blue demon with wild hair that must have been Shinshu. I watched his movement, mesmerized in a way. The naginata he held was almost identical to mine, but considerably longer and thicker. 

"Wow," I said. 

Then, the demon got a hit in to one of his legs. He fell to the ground and cried out, but tried to get back up and continue to fight. I thought he was okay until he fell to the ground again. Shinshu laughed and began to taunt him before Kento told her to go to Hell. She started walking towards her and I knew she was going to kill him. He looked up at her, fearfully, closing his eyes.

I moved and blocked the attack she sent. I turned back to him to see him looking at me wide eyed from surprise and shock. "You all right, Kento?" I asked. 

"Um, I'll be fine once my leg heals up a bit," he said. He was blushing profoundly and I smiled. Sara had been right, he WAS kinda cute. 

"If you think you can fight, go ahead, Anubis and my friends aren't going to be here for a while," I said, turning back to Shinshu. "They were distracted by your old friends the Dark Warlords."

"Great," he said, "I think I can cast a few spells from here, just watch out, she's one powerful demon lady." 

I was confused. Spells? Hmm, the barriers must have broken. But spells? "Fine, whatever, let's take this jerk down."

"Fine by me," said Kento. The two of us stared her down, ready for the real fight to begin.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Eighteen: The Power of Hardrock

(Kento)

So Keisha and I were staring down Shinshu. I was on the ground, sure, but I was preparing a spell to throw at her. A metal manipulating spell I'd been working hard on. If I could get the spell to hit her scythe, I could change it into a heavy metal, like lead or something so she couldn't lift it. Or, maybe I could try and rust it.

Keisha gave out a cry and drew her nunchaku, spinning them expertly. Shinshu gave out her own call and tried to slice Keisha in half. She leapt out of the way and I rolled to avoid the blade. The weapon was stuck in the ground and I cast the spell. Shinshu now had a lovely lead killer scythe. 

"Stupid piece of junk," she said, unable to pull it from the ground. 

"EAT THIS!"

Keisha really shouldn't have let Shinshu know she was going to attack, since she got out of the way before either of the nunchaku could reach her skull. I cringed. "Nice try," I said. I tested my leg. It was getting healed all right, just not quick enough. "Hold her off for a few minutes and I should be able to help you!"

"Easier said than- oh man, she got another one!" said Keisha, backflipping away from Shinshu's new scythe. I blinked. Where did she get it? "I really hope that the girls and Anubis finish the Warlords soon and back us up!"

I gulped and I tried to concentrate on healing. I hated not being able to fight. Part of my responsibilities as a Ronin Warrior lied with protecting Keisha, not letting her fight while I sat back and watched her get her butt kicked. This wasn't how I was supposed to do it! I should've been out there beating the living snot out of Shinshu!

"Ancient, help me," I asked. I closed my eyes and felt my hurt leg begin to feel tingly. Then, it didn't hurt. I stood up, my leg good as new. "Thank you, Ancient One," I said, smiling. I picked up my own naginata and charged Shinshu, slicing her arm. 

Keisha smiled. "Impressive," she said. 

"You ain't seen nothing yet," I said. "Already, Shinshu, two against one, you don't have much of a chance!"

Shinshu laughed. "Let's bring this battle up a notch to magic!" she said. She cackled as she prepared another energy attack. Keisha and I yelped before leaping out of the way of the spell. I responded with a tremor spell. She yelped but avoided the spell fairly well.

"Any ideas?" asked Keisha.

"If I had one I'd tell you," I said. Think, think . . . duh! I smiled. "Got one!"

"What?" asked Keisha.

"Let's give her a taste of the Armor of the Hardrock and Hardrock of the Senshi! Armor up!" I said. "Armor of the Hardrock, DAO GI!"

I heard Keisha call her own armor up as I was greeted by the familiar silks and cherry blossoms. I grinned as I felt the familiar armor piece together on me. I looked over and saw Keisha in the mirror image of my armor. She was ready to fight, determination in her eyes. "Well?"

"Think about it. IRON ROCK CRUSHER!" I cried, performing my sure kill. 

"IRON ROCK CRUSHA!"

Hmm, this could be interesting.

I watched as huge chunks of earth flew out of the ground, battering Shinshu in the process. She screamed in agony, not at all pleased with her situation. I heard a sickening pop and once the attack cleared, saw a blue goo on the ground where she once stood.

"Oh sick," said Keisha. She pulled her helmet off and walked over to me. "Is she dead?"

"I don't know," I said. "She must be doing that to fool us."

"It's bubbling," said Keisha. "What does that mean?"

"Either she's really dead or REALLY mad," I said. "Let's hope for the former."

"I agree," said Keisha. Then, she grimaced. "Crap, it's the latter!" The bubbling puddle began to slowly grow, turning into a giant blob of blue goo.

I gulped. "This stinks!" I said. "How do we defeat a blob of goo- wait! I got an idea, but I need your help."

"How?" asked Keisha.

"If we concentrate, we could try to crystallize the goo, then break it apart or something," I said. I placed my hands in a prayer position and began to concentrate. "Follow my lead and concentrate."

I could feel my powers begin to crystallize Shinshu, who was now making a weird howl, almost a cat was gargling. "It's working," said Keisha. I smiled. I could almost feel the goo turn into spiky, lifeless crystal. Shinshu wasn't happy, but this way, she wouldn't ever be able to hurt anyone ever again.

"Concentrate harder," I urged. "We can do this!"

Finally, I heard a creaking sound and opened my eyes to see a big, spiky blue thing that was obviously Shinshu. Keisha was looking at it, wide eyed. "Cool," she said. "What kind of crystal is it?"

"I don't know, nor do I care. Probably some sort of a mineral, I'd guess," I said. "Looks like sapphire."

"It's kind of. . . pretty," said Keisha. "Maybe we could just give it to a museum."

"If it breaks free of the spell. . ." I started. Keisha bit her lip, indicating she realized what I was getting at. A deafening moment of silence passed between us.

"So, how do we get rid of it?" she finally asked.

"I'll take care of it," I said. I lifted my staff and let loose a moderately strong attack, shattering the crystal to a fine, blue sand. Keisha whooped with excitement, already armored down. I followed suit until I was back in my T-shirt and shorts, smiling as the powder blew away with the wind. 

"She's gone!" said Keisha. She started to jump up and down excitedly. "We did it! Yippee!"

I laughed. "Yeah, we sure did."

Keisha calmed down and looked at me. "So, um, exactly how did you get here in the first place?"

I sighed heavily. "It's kind of a long story. . ." I started.

~

I told Keisha everything. About the nightmares, the camping trip, the gargoyles, the spells, Kaze, everything. My partner in arms just listened sympathetically as I poured my heart and soul out to her. She placed her hand on my cheek. I turned to her to see her large, brown eyes looking at me.

"You're going to be just fine, Kento," she said. "You seem like a really sweet guy and I'm sure everything will work itself out."

"Oh," I said. "I don't know what to do with myself, now."

"What do you mean?" she asked. 

"I don't really have much of a place to go. I can't go back to Japan, it would be weird. I'll probably never see my parents or any of my old friends again. Madame Shinshu tried to kill me. I don't even known if I'm a Ronin Warrior anymore," I said, looking at the ground. 

"What, because you can use magic?" asked Keisha. I nodded. "So? You're still a Ronin Warrior, and the barrier being broken doesn't make you any less of one. It makes you even more of one."

I blinked. "You think so?" I asked.

"Yes! Your powers, as they are, make you about halfway between a Ronin Warrior and a Ronin Senshi, but you're more Warrior, if you ask me. Don't be so hard on yourself," said Keisha. She laid her head on my shoulder and looked up at me. "Maybe Mike and Anubis will let you stay with them."

"Hmm?" I asked, looking down at her.

"Some people take in runaway teenagers or teens who've been kicked out of their homes. It won't seem so out of place if you do," said Keisha. "My aunt does that out in California."

"I, I'm touched," I said, smiling back at her. She was being so nice to me, even though she hardly knew me. It just. . . moved me. "You know, we'd better go help out your friends and Anubis."

"Not necessary, we got it all taken care of." The two of us turned to see Ria and Sara standing behind us. "Anubis is on his way. I'm sure he'll talk to Mike about giving you a room," said Ria.

"How long have you two been standing there?" asked Keisha.

"Long enough to know that he's got no where to go right now," said Sara. "If you have no where to go, stay with Mike."

"Mike has way more than enough room in that house of his. His family's loaded," said Keisha. "You'll fit in just fine. Just help us figure out where the heck Rona and Sam ran off to."

I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate on the remaining Senshi. I opened my eyes, shaking my head. "I still think it's too the north," I said. "I still don't know how far to the north or how far eats or west in addition to that, but hey, don't go south. I'll see what I can do about looking into it even further."

"I like this guy," said Sara. "I'd say he's a keeper!"


	19. Chapter Nineteen

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Nineteen: A New Beginning

(Keisha)

I felt bad for Kento. He was a nice guy, and some pretty nasty stuff had happened to him. Everything that happened to him, it made me hate Trulpa even more. When we relayed the story to Ria and Sara, I could see it in there eyes and that they were silently damning her to Hell as well. Once we finished up, Anubis came into the field. He stopped short, looking at Kento. My partner in arms looked at him as well, the two studying each other. An eerie silence fell onto me and my fellow Senshi.

The silence was broken when Anubis smiled and laughed lightly. "Kento, it has been a long time," he said. "You seem. . . older, wiser, even. Not the hard-headed young man I knew last year."

Kento gave a small bow to Anubis, which I later learned was a sign of respect in Japan. "It's good to see you alive and well also, Anubis," he said. "You don't look a day older since the last time I saw you, either."

Anubis folded his arms. "So, tell me, what brings you-"

"Anubis, why don't we fill you in on the way back to Boston, or wait until we get back to Mike's so that he has the scoop as well?" I suggested. "He's told it twice already, let's try to make it as painless as possible."

"I don't mind, really," said Kento. 

"It'll get annoying after a while and you'll start dropping out important details," said Sara. "That happens to me every time I over rehearse an oral report. Trust me, it's for the best."

"Oh," said my partner in arms. He shifted uncomfortably, placing his hands into his pocket. "I guess that makes sense."

I smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I know you're uncomfortable. You just about don't know us. Well, you kinda know Anubis, but we want to help you. Your friends are in trouble and we're willing to help."

Kento didn't say anything, but I saw a slight smile on his lips. Ria laughed and Sara just grinned. "Kento, the girls are very easy to be natural around. Don't clam up on us, now."

~

On the way back to Boston, we told Kento about our first war and about what happened to us during the fight with Kaze. "I remember Ria trying to talk to us. It wasn't a picnic holding that guy back," he said, scratching his head. 

"Well, he wasn't a picnic to fight, either, but I think you guys made a huge difference," said Ria. "Still, we need to figure out what Trulpa's going to do with Cye and Sage, since I doubt she's having them over for tea."

"Might be bait," said Kento. "That's the whole reason I was even caught by Talpa. Dais told me Talpa had them and I tried foolishly to save them myself. I just couldn't stand the thought of them being in there, so I just went. I, I should've gone and got Ryo and Rowen."

"Kento, your heart was in the right place," said Anubis. "And it was a brave thing to do, none the less. You just didn't think it through, but I'm sure they appreciated the gesture."

"Sage yelled at me for doing that," said Kento.

"Well Sage is an unappreciative jackass," said Ria. "It's the thought that counts."

"I'm sure that was just his way of saying 'Thanks for trying to save us,'" said Anubis. He then shot Ria a look. "Watch your mouth, young lady. Ria did a "Who, me?" type gesture and Anubis growled, mumbling something about how difficult American women were.

"Thanks," said Kento. "I needed to hear that."

"Let's just get back to Mike's place," said Sara. "Then we'll figure out what to do from there."

~

Once we got back to Boston, Kento told Mike and Anubis his story. I added in things where he forgot to mention details that could be important. "That's sick," said Anubis. "I have hated Talpa for about a year, but to kill your own brother is absolutely disgusting. Never mind. It's BEYOND absolutely disgusting."

"I agree," said Sara. She turned her head slightly to the side after focusing her attention on our new ally/friend. "Is there anything else that could help? Odd things Trulpa did at anytime during your captivity?"

Kento crossed his arms and legs. "Well, when she found out Anubis was alive, she kind of singled out Cye by grabbing him by his hair and threw him down. She wouldn't tell me or Sage why, but I think she eventually told Cye. I could kind of feel he was keeping a secret, but he seemed scared to share it."

Anubis went wide eyed. "That's weird. What else can you tell us?"

"Well, I think the secret has something to do with his parents. Before the Kaze experiment began, we all woke up tied down to these tables in our subarmor. Sage and I were conscious and Cye was talking about something while he was still out. The first thing he said was 'father'. Cye's dad died about a week after he was conceived," said Kento. "He never even knew Cye was the on the way, and Cye's only seen him in pictures. Then he said something about his mother lying to him."

"That's even weirder," I said. "Anything else?"

"Ryo, Rowen, and Mia have definitely given up on us being alive. Yuli is questionable, if it helps any," said Kento. 

"Probably not. In your current situation, where you've been missing for nearly a year, it would be unwise to return home just yet. It would raise too many questions with the police. Your family and the other Ronins would understand, but not the general public," said Anubis.

"I, I know," said Kento, lowering his eyes. "I know there's a good chance I'll never see them again, but. . . someday. Just not, not right now."

Seeing that Kento was having some difficulty with the fact it would be a while that he'd see his family again, if at all, the subject was changed. "You say you have the Hardrock spell book?" asked Anubis. 

"Cye has Torrent and Wildfire, Sage has Strata and Halo," said Kento, clicking off an orange cuff I'd failed to notice. He tapped the jewel on the cuff, causing a REALLY big spell book (think library atlas or library dictionary big) and a crystal ball with an orange tint to it to appear. He placed his armor orbe with the other two objects. "It's got a ton of stuff in here." He turned to me. "Maybe I'll teach you a few tricks out of here."

My eyes widened. "Sounds like fun," I said.

"Now, Sage and Cye were pulled into the Dynasty," said Mike.

Kento nodded. "I know," he said. "They told me about what happened. I thought they got away, too, but I guess not."

"We'll get them out," said Ria. "You guys could be useful allies and friends. You're a nice guy and I'm sure Sage and Cye are, too."

"Sage?" he said. "He can be an ice cold bastard when you first meet him, but after a while you learn he's got a good personality and a devious little mind. Cye is shy, but once he warms up to you he's peachy keen. He'll even get into a fight with you if you're lucky."

"You seem to know Cye fairly well," said Anubis.

Kento sighed heavily. "Well, we met shortly after he came to Japan as an exchange student and he lived with me and my family up until the war. We're best friends," he said. "Sage kinda is, too, now, but we've known each other longer than any of the Ronins."

I frowned sympathetically. "You must really miss him."

"I'm worried, too," he said. 

"You girls had better get home. We'll start looking for Sam and Rona in the morning," said Mike. We all nodded and went home.

~

The next day, I got to Mike's early. I heard something out back and slowly went around. My eyes widened to see Kento practicing with a practice staff on some sort of a martial arts technique. His moves were smooth and precise, like some sort of an angelic dance, rather than a battle tactic.

Okay, okay. It wasn't the technique that wowed me. Kento was shirtless.

"Hi," I said. Kento looked over, surprised, and lost his balance. I covered my mouth with my hand as I rushed over to help him up. "Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you like that."

"No bother," he said. He blushed. "Um. . ."

__

Girl you are to me 

All that a woman should be 

And I dedicate my life to you always

"Not bad," I said.

"What? My bod or my technique?" he asked.

I grinned. "Both." Kento blushed even more as I laughed. "C'mon, you keep in shape, you deserve a compliment once in a while."

__

A love like yours is rare 

It must have been sent from up above 

And I know you'll stay this way for always

"But from a girl?" he asked. 

I extended a hand. Kento took it and I helped him to his feet. "Sure, why not?"

__

And we both know, that our love will grow 

And forever it will be you and me

"Well, girls, I mean, you know, guys date girls and stuff," he said. I laughed. "What?"

"Well, if guys are supposed to date girls, then wouldn't you want them to compliment you?" I asked.

"Um, kind of," he said, taking sudden interest in moving the dirt around with his shoe. "But, well, I, uh-"

"Loss for words?"

"Bingo."

__

Ooo, you're like the sun 

Chasing all of the rain away 

When you come around you bring brighter days

"I thought so. Is one of the words you want to say four letters long?"

"Maybe."

"Begin with an 'l'?"

". . . maybe."

__

You're the perfect one 

For me and you forever will be 

And I will love you so for always

The two of us looked at each other for a long time, slowly moving closer to each other. Before I knew it, we were very close, me having to tilt my head back just a smidgen (he's only a few inches taller than me) to look at him correctly. Nervously, Kento placed a hand on my cheek and kissed me.

The feeling was incredible! I'd kissed guys before, but I'd always been under the impression I was supposed to stay within my ethnic group. Kento was far from black, and I wondered what my parents would think about it. I broke away.

"Keisha?" he asked. "I, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

__

Ooh, ooh 

I will love you so for always

"No, not that. Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea," I said. "I mean, I'm black and you're oriental."

Kento raised one eyebrow, then made an "o" with his mouth as he realized what I was talking about. "Your parents against inter-racial dating?"

"I'm not sure, I always thought I was supposed to date and marry black men," I said. I sighed heavily, unsure of what to do. I liked Kento, but was I ready for that? "Besides, I just met you yesterday!"

__

Ooh, ooh 

I will love you so for always

"So, we could get to know each other better. And maybe your parents won't be against the idea," he said. He took my hand. "Because even though I kinda thought I had to date within my own ethnic group, none of those girls I liked have ever been as beautiful as you are."

"I'm, I'm beautiful?" I said. No one had ever said that about me before! Kento nodded and hugged me. I returned the action. I felt safety in his arms and didn't ever want to break from the embrace. I rested my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes and ravishing in the feeling. 

__

Ooh, ooh 

I will love you so for always

"Go Keisha!"

I turned my head to see Sara had arrived. She was making kissy faces at us and started to ask us what we planned on naming our children. I gave Kento a quick look before taking off after the smallest of the Senshi.


	20. Chapter Twenty

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty: A Warlady's Past

__

Over four hundred years ago, Japan. . .

"You look absolutely beautiful!" chirped Kasumi. "Oh, I can't believe you're finally getting married! Today, everything changes. You and Rinji are going to be so happy! You're going to have lots of kids and grow old together and never be sad or lonely again! I'm so jealous!"

Cara just smiled weakly, her large blue eyes accented by her deep maroon hair. "Thank you, Kasumi-chan, I appreciate it," she said. She looked down at her wedding kimono, smiling to herself. "Today I am to be married. Is it. . . worth it?"

"I find that it is," said Kasumi. "It's a beautiful day, and Rinji is one of the nicest, best looking men in the village! You're lucky he's going to be your husband. Remember how unlucky Kioko was with Benjiro."

The smaller of the two women shuddered. "Don't remind me, please. Her father just sold her off to that dishonorable pig because he offered a hefty weight in gold, and now look at what happened. His daughter is dead because of his foolishness."

Kasumi sighed. "So's Benjiro, after Jiro went after him."

"He's lucky the daimyo didn't have his head for that," said Cara.

"Ah, but Benjiro did a dishonorable thing and Jiro took Benjiro's life in the name of the one that he took," said Kasumi. "How can the daimyo try to argue whether it's right or wrong according to the rules of Bushido?"

"I suppose so," said Cara, looking down as she continued to think about it. "I'm going to go outside for a walk before the wedding."

"Why?"

"Fresh air," said Cara. She smiled, waving. "I'll see you at the reception." She stepped outside into the cool spring air and took in a breath of fresh air before heading into the forest.

~

The forest was eerily quiet. Cara sat on a rock and looked around. She loved the world around her. It was so peaceful and beautiful. _I'm getting married. . ._ she thought aimlessly. She liked the idea of being with Rinji forever and a day. She wanted to have children with him. She wanted to spend every waking moment with him.

"My dearest bride, what are you doing here, this morning?"

Cara looked up and smiled to see Rinji take a seat beside her in his own black wedding kimono. Rinji took her hands and kissed them. "Oh Rinji, today is the start of the rest of our lives together."

"Yes, my love," he said. Rinji was a tall, handsome man with smooth, silky teal hair and sharp violet eyes. But more importantly, he was her love. He was an honorable samurai, but unlike most of the other samurai that Cara knew, he had a slight sense of humor and treated women as his equals.

"Why should I care if someone is a woman? Do we not all shed the same blood?" he would say to anyone who asked him about his strange views.

Cara rested her head on his shoulder as the two began to talk about the wedding.

Hiss. . .

Cara looked around. "Rinji? What was that?"

"I don't know," he said. "Sounds like some kind of a snake."

"I don't like the sound of it," said the young woman, clinging to her fiancé. "Where is it?"

"I don't- AHH!" screamed Rinji. Out of the bushes came a snarling, drooling, and malicious looking lizard of some sort. Rinji, being the brave, protective, and loving fiancé he was, got up, drew his sword, and tried to fight the beast. Cara watched as he tried to kill the beast, only to watch the beats pin him to the ground. 

"RINJI!" she screamed. The creature reared its head back, hissed, and dove down to rip his throat. Cara watched in shock and horror as her fiancé was killed before her very eyes. "NOO!"

The beast looked up from his recent kill to look at Cara, the man's lifeblood dripping from the corners of its mouth. She froze, too scared to move. In return the creature sprayed a strange, purple saliva into her eyes. Cara screamed and she covered her now very, very pain-filled eyes. They hurt so bad! _I'm going to die, today. . . I'm sure of it!_

"Down, you beast! Leave Darkness alone!"

Cara didn't look up to see her savior, but she did hear a strange crackling sound as the beast breathed its last breath. "Who, who are you?"

"I am Lady Trulpa. I have an, offer, to make you," she said. Cara felt a hand with long nails gently touch her shoulder. She still kept her hands over her eyes, the venom still stinging badly. "What is your name?"  
"Cara," she said. "Why do you ask?"

Lady Trulpa laughed. "Ah, I know something that you don't know."

"What?" asked Cara. "My fiancé is dead, I think that creature has made me blind, and you insist on playing mind games with me!?"

"No, no, no! Not at all, my dear. I happen to know you have a great destiny," she said. "You, my dear, have an armor."

"An, an armor?" asked Cara, taking slight interest in what the woman was saying.

"Yes. A mystical, magical armor. Cara, you have been given a special gift. You have the ability to use magic. A dark, cold magic. If you wanted to plunge an entire village into darkness, you can do it. Freeze an entire meadow over, you can do it."

"How can I do the impossible?" asked Cara. "And why would I want to?"

"Don't you get it? I can help you, Cara. I can give you power. . ."

~

__

The present. . .

~

Cara sat on her bed, running her hands over the goggle-like glasses Trulpa had given her after the beast, a Smitheren, had spit into her eyes. The venomous spit had taken her sight, leaving Cara blinder than the blindest bat. It was truly a wonder she mastered using her sword and armor, even with her handicap. 

The Warlady sighed. She still missed Rinji to a certain extent, but he was a distant memory, now. She was a part of another world, another order. Cara was the Warlady of Darkness, Corruption, and Decay. 

She hated her title. While she was somewhat good at it, she longed for one thing she wanted desperately. Sight. Something that the brat Samantha, Halo of the Senshi had that she didn't. She wished for nothing more than to hear that little witch scream from the inside one of Trulpa's torture chambers.

But was that really the revenge she sought?


	21. Chapter Twenty-One

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-One: The Lonesome Darkness

(Sage)

__

Show me the meaning of being lonely

After the Kaze experiment failed, I was sent into my room and locked in. I tried to teleport to Cye and Kento's room, but the seal was so much stronger than during the Senshi's first war. I was alone, hurt, and a nervous wreck. I'd never been used like that, and I felt even more insecure then when I'd first been brought to the Dynasty while it was under Trulpa's control. 

My name is Sage Date. But I'm also known as Sage of the Halo. I was a prisoner to Trulpa for nearly a year, forced to use magic powers I didn't even know I had for her sick and evil purposes. I think you already know how all that happened, right? Right. So I won't go over it. I don't have a reason to.

__

So many words for the broken heart 

It's hard to see in a crimson love 

So hard to breathe 

Walk with me, and maybe 

Nights of light so soon become 

Wild and free I could feel the sun 

Your every wish will be done 

They tell me...

I stared at the wall from where I sat on my bed. The emerald green room was done over beautifully, as if Trulpa had instructed her most trusted decorators to do it over. Kento and Cye's rooms were nice, too. It looked really expensive, and I figured she must have gone to such extents to try and get us to change sides. But that would never happen. She wants to destroy everything I hold dear. I'd slit my own throat before joining her.

__

Show me the meaning of being lonely 

Is this the feeling I need to walk with 

Tell me why I can't be there where you are 

There's something missing in my heart

Deep down inside, I felt sick to my stomach. I'd been manipulated by Trulpa. Again. When was this going to end? When was I going to get to go home? Thinking of home made the sick feeling intensify. Even if I escaped, I probably couldn't ever go home again. Everyone thinks I'm dead. It would be weird if I went back. So I'd never see my mother, my father, my sisters, and my grandfather ever again. 

__

Life goes on as it never ends 

Eyes of stone observe the trends 

They never say forever gaze 

Guilty roads to an endless love 

There's no control 

Are you with me now 

Your every wish will be done 

They tell me

Eventually I felt a presence enter the room. I didn't get up. I knew who it was before I heard their voice. "Halo, come with me. Trulpa wishes to see you." Why did she have to send CALE of all people to get me for whatever she wanted to harass me about this time? Wasn't the fact I was stuck in this stupid Dynasty for the rest of my life enough?! Apparently not.

__

Show me the meaning of being lonely 

Is this the feeling I need to walk with 

Tell me why I can't be there where you are 

There's something missing in my heart

"Really, well, I don't want to see her," I said. I turned a cold glare his way. "Go away, Cale."

__

There's nowhere to run 

I have no place to go 

Surrender my heart' body and soul 

How can it be you're asking me to feel the things you never show 

You are missing in my heart 

Tell me why I can't be there where you are 

My old adversary chuckled. "No matter how hopeless it gets or how much hope you loose, you always manage to come back with a snappy comment. Now get off you ass and come with me!" Cale pushed me off my bed and drew his sword. Since I was pretty much unarmed, I stood up and followed him to Trulpa's throne room.

__

Show me the meaning of being lonely 

Is this the feeling I need to walk with 

Tell me why I can't be there where you are 

There's something missing in my heart

~

I stood before Trulpa, my hands at my sides and my head down. Not from respect, but from depression. The demon empress sat on her throne, a long sleeved, v-necked red dress on her figure. I will admit that it is a thin figure, like some models, but I'm not at all attracted to it. They say evil wears a pretty face, and in Trulpa's case, I believe them. "Halo, I have made a few, discoveries, that you might be interested in."

I didn't answer. I hated Trulpa, and perhaps refusing to answer her would get her mad. I liked seeing her mad to a certain extent. As long as she wasn't ready to kill, then it was slightly amusing. But at that moment I was so depressed that I didn't care how mad she was or wasn't.

"It would seem as if you can be of use to me," she said, standing up and walking down to me. I stiffened as she began to walk around me in a complete circle. Then, suddenly, Trulpa grabbed my hand and placed a cool, smooth object in my hand. She then closed my fingers over the object. I opened my fingers to see my armor orbe. 

"Why are you giving this back to me?" I asked, blinking at her in surprise. 

"Because you need it for my plan to work. The Armor of the Halo is a key element to my latest plan, you see. But the reunion is only temporary, Sagie," she said. She grinned maliciously. "And if you don't do every little thing I say, well, Kento and Cye will regret it."

My eyes widened. "You'll hurt Cye and Kento?" I asked. "No! Leave them alone! If it's me you want then do whatever you want, but please, don't hurt my friends!"

"I have them both in the gargoyles, waiting to be fried," she said. "And without you to balance the difference, they'll both be killed. Now, you have a choice. Obey me and they'll be just fine. Disobey me, and then they die. So, what's you choice, Halo? Let your friends live, or die?"

I choked on my breath. Great. Do I obey Trulpa and save my friends, or, do I disobey her and through Cye and Kento's lives away? I didn't have much of a choice. "Why do you need me?" I asked.

Trulpa sighed. "Ah, this will, perhaps, help your decision. A hundred years ago, Talpa and I were working together on a special project. One of your armor ancestors, Nako of the Halo, and the Halo of the Senshi at the time, Sachi, infiltrated the Nether Realm and stole the completed project. They then sealed it away with their armors and we shortly after killed foolishly by Talpa," she said. 

"So that's why you two became enemies," I said. "Because you got mad at Talpa for killing the only people who knew where your project was hidden. So that's why you didn't have a big problem killing your own brother."

"Correct. I got the revenge I needed and got some extra power to boost. Just recently, my forces have found out where it's located, but, in order to get inside we'd need your assistance since only the two Halo armors working together can break open the seal. We'll off course need assistance from Halo of the Senshi," said Trulpa.

"And if she won't cooperate?"  
"She'll obey me," said Trulpa. "If she knows what's good for her, at least."

I gulped. What was she planning for Sam?

"Until the operation, I've arranged a, special, room for you."

"What kind of a special room?"

My "special room" was a rather large, rather dark, and rather unpleasant dungeon. I created a small ball of light so I could get a better view of my surroundings. Nothing but bare, dismal grey walls. I sighed heavily.

Looking down at my armor orbe, I decided to armor up and see if maybe I could find a way out of there. Hey, I'd get out of the temple robes, which were REALLY starting to get, annoying. Not that they were comfortable, but I craved something different. Preferably denim, but subarmor was good, too.

"Armor of the Halo, Tao CHI!" I cried, backflipping into my subarmor. The cool, metallic-spandex-polyester feeling was more than welcoming. I felt a little more at ease than I had been in the past several months. Or had it been a year already? It was definitely early summer by now, and since we were captured at the end of August. . . wow, it had really been THAT long.

"Wow," I said. "It's really been a year already."

I sat down with my back up against the wall. I could feel the cool coming off from the stone onto the back of my neck. I shivered, pushing my hair down to cover it. I didn't realize just how cold it was due to my subarmor until then. My light floated next to my head, so I could see the opposite wall, but like it did me any good. Ooo, the opposite wall, big whoop.

Eventually I laid down, keeping my hands under my head. The ceiling was pretty boring, too. More than anything, I was bored. Bored, bored, bored. Yeah, I was scared, but after being in the Dynasty so long, I kind of got to know what to expect from different things and it wasn't so scary anymore. It was just, I don't know kind of normal, after a while. I still longed to go back to the Mortal Realm more than anything, but with the ways things were, it didn't look like it would happen for a long time, if at all.

Eventually I extinguished the ball and fell asleep.


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Two: Captured in the North

(Sam)

"I can't believe he LIED to us!" exclaimed my best friend, Rona Santana. The two of us stormed out of Mike's house, pretty unpleased with the meeting that had just taken place. "We trusted him, and now he blows THIS onto us?!"

I snorted. "Aren't all men like that?"

"No, Sam, not all men keep skeletons THAT dark," said Rona, getting onto her motorcycle. Pulling her helmet on, she turned to me. "I have got to get away from that man for a few days. You with me?"

Before we go any further, I'd just like to quickly introduce myself, although you probably already know who I am. Just in case you're a complete idiot, my name is Samantha Thomas, Sam for short. I'm also known as Sam, Halo of the Senshi. You know about that. Tall big-mouth from Australia who hates men because her father killed her mom, blah, blah, blah. You should know this, so let's move on.

I laughed, getting on beside her and grabbing the spare helmet she kept. "You kidding? Take me away, far, far away!"

"To a galaxy far, far away!" Rona said with a snort. "How far? Do you want to leave Boston, or even Massachusetts all together?"

"Hmm," I said. Lately, I'd discovered that Aunt Sally, who's been taking care of my since the incident with my folks, had been more lenient on grounding me for some of my antics. Normally something like this would have scored me a good solid four months worth of being grounded, no allowance, and extra chores. Now a days, even if I got a detention for fighting in the halls (again), I got a verbal reprimanding. "Why not?"

Rona smiled. "Let's go up to New Hampshire. It's not that far away, and last time I was up there, I found some great stores."  
"I like, I like, I like!" I said. "I love shopping!"

"Now if we get something for my dad and your aunt, we'll get in even LESS trouble!" said Rona. "How's that sound to you?"

"Awesome!" I said. "But I can't afford as much as you can."

"That's cause I have a job and you don't," said Rona. "So the 7-11 doesn't pay much, it's better than you make."

"Hey, twenty bucks a week isn't that bad," I said. 

Rona laughed as she started her bike and sped off.

~

"Well, that was fun," said Rona as we walked out of a mall roughly three hours out of Boston. We hadn't bought much (a couple of nice ties for Rona's dad and a blouse for my aunt, plus miscellaneous clothing items for us) and found ourselves not yet ready to come back to Boston.

"How mad do you think the others are going to be?" I asked.

"I don't know, but we should think about heading back," said Rona. "If we're lucky we'll blow in around ten."

"Ouch," I said. "That's my curfew."

"Sally won't have your head. I've seen you slip out of trouble well past midnight," said the Latin Senshi of Song. She sighed heavily. "I just wish that he hadn't lied to us."

I didn't want to say anything. I was still pretty mad and if Rona was starting to cool off, I didn't want her to start taking a side. 

"You're still steamed, I can tell, Sam," she said. "You've got to learn that not every man on this planet is like your dad. Who knows, maybe that Ronin Warrior of Halo will turn out to be a nice guy." Rona clicked her tongue and lightly elbowed my stomach. "Go get 'em, Tiger!"

I laughed. "In your dreams, Ro," I said. "You KNOW I'm not interested in dating. And no, I'M NOT GAY!"

"I never said you were," said Rona, blinking.

I sighed heavily, throwing my hands into the air. Sometimes, Rona was hopeless. Finally I turned to her to ask her the obvious question. "So, where to next? Home, or should we go somewhere else?"

"I don't want to go back to Boston yet," said Rona. "What do you say we go a little further north and find a nice place to think this through?"  
"Works for me," I said.

~

We ended up going to a hillside that was about a ten minute walk from Rona's bike. We laid out on the ground and looked up at the sky, which was clear as crystal. My friend was getting lost in the stars, seemingly, while I was feeling a little insecure. The night wasn't known very well for light, and my element is light. Well, lightning and thunder to an extent, too, but there wasn't a storm anywhere near bye.

"It's so pretty," I said. "Maybe we could stay out here for a day or so?"

"I like that. We'll call my dad and Sally sometime tomorrow and tell them we're mad at Anubis and need some time to blow off some steam," said Rona, propping up on her elbows. Her pink braid was flipped over her shoulder, which she automatically picked up and began to chew. She does that all the time. It gets annoying, but we all live with it.

I sat up myself and we started talking. While Rona was telling me about this weird voice she heard singing a duet with her after the Kaze incident, I was about to make a wise crack that she and Keisha go to a counselor together when I heard something. "What was that?"

"I don't know," said Rona, standing up. She placed her hand over her pocket, as I did.

We were eventually greeted by the regular goon squad. "Armor up!" said Rona. "Strata of the Senshi, Tao INOCHI!"

"Halo of the Senshi, Tao CHI!" I said, following her lead. "Let's take care of these losers, then we might want to head back to Boston, even if it DOES mean talking with Anubis."

"I agree," said Rona, kicking out and letting her leg connect with one of the soldiers while another soldier had a nice conversation with her fist. 

I was flipping Tin Cans over my shoulder and crashing them into each other. It sounded like a bad drum player was practicing on a bunch of trash cans, but I didn't care about the noise. Who was gonna see us out here at that hour of the night?

Soon, the Tin Cans stopped attacking. The two of us looked around, confused. Then, Rona whooped and laughed. "Guess we showed them, huh, Sam?" she said. "Those stupid Trash Cans. . . uh oh."

I looked up and saw what Rona was referring to. Standing on a tree top was my adversary, Cara. She leapt down to our level, looming evilly above us. But she looked. . . different. First off, I could see her eyes for the first time. And she was taller, and bigger. But sure enough, the Darkness Warlady stood before me.

Or was it?

"What do you want, Cara? You know I'll give you trouble," I said, my hands on my hips.

"Why, hello, Samantha, Halo of the Senshi," said the owner of the armor.

"Uh, oh," said Rona. "Sam, that's not Cara. I think it's one of those Dark Warlords Anubis was talking about."

The man laughed. "Correct. I am Cale, Dark Warlord of Darkness, Corruption, and Decay. I am here on behalf of my Mistress, Lady Trulpa, and if you cooperate, harm will not come to either of your pretty little faces. Yet."

"Didn't you change sides?" I asked, still holding my fighting position.

"The Dynasty is too good of an offer to pass off for long. Anubis has his chance, but no, he had to stay with his stupid little Staff and stupid little Ancient," said Cale. He snorted. "His loss."

"If I'm not mistaken the Ancient created your armor," said Rona. "Well looks like something's up, and you've got trouble Mr. Warlord. We might not be what you're used to, but we can give you enough trouble to last a while!"

"My business does not concern you, Strata slut."

Rona got mad and charged Cale. In return, Cale drew a REALLY big sword. "Eiyp." said Rona, skidding to a stop. Her nose was just an inch away from the tip of the blade, a cold sweat pouring down the sides of her face. "That's huge."

"Hey! Let her go!" I said. I reached into the air, readying my ultimate armor up. The Big Bad Warlord was going to have a Big Bad Thunderbolt Cut up his Big Bad Butt. "Halo of the Senshi, DAO CHI!" 

Flying silk, cheery blossom, armor, da-da. 

I held my sword out in front of me, pointing it at the Warlord. "Leave her alone," I said.

"Oh, so you want to fight, little girl?" he said. He raised his own sword into the air. "Then let's fight!"

Rona, seeing that she was probably out of her league due to lack of a sure-kill, stepped back. "Kick his ass for me, Sam!" she said.

"Not a problem!" I said. I readied a charge, only to watch as black energy began to explode from the sword. I screamed as the energy began to surround me, the dark energy causing very negative affects to my own light energy. The force of the attack drew me out of my armor, leaving me vulnerable in my subarmor.

"Ha, ha, ha!" cried Cale, lowering his sword. I was still too weak to move and didn't fight as he lifted me off the ground. "We have an appointment with my mistress."

"No!" cried Rona, trying to run over to me. Cale laughed, sending a dark energy zap at her. Rona cried out before fainting, her body laying motionless on the ground as Cale took me into the Dynasty.


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Three: Warrior Meets Senshi

(Sage)

SLAM!

I woke up from my little nap with a start. What the heck was that? I sat up and looked around. My eyes were kind of adjusted to the shadows, but I couldn't see if I had been joined by anyone. Or thing. 

I shuddered at the thought and stood up. I had to keep my mind off of "things" joining me. I had to remain positive, or I'd never get out of there alive. If I had a choice at all in the matter. Of course Trulpa wanted me to remain in the Dynasty for all time. I listened carefully, and sure enough, I heard breathing. I began to slowly walk to the source of the breathing.

"Who's there?" I asked. 

No answer. The breathing quickened its pace.

"I hear breathing. Are you mute? Deaf? A combination of both?"

Still no answer, but the breathing seemed to disappear. Well, if there was someone there, they were aware of me. 

I took in a deep breath, then cleared my throat. "Look, if you're here than you're either here to kill me or you're against Trulpa. If you're against Trulpa I don't want to hurt you. I don't like her either. If you're an executioner, well, you'll have to fight me to the last to get your job done, cause I'm not going down easy."

"How can I trust you don't work for Trulpa?" The voice was quiet, so I couldn't determine a sex. But I could detect an Australian accent. 

"Because I'm a prisoner like you are." With this I began to advance again.

"How do I know you aren't some kind of a Dynasty trick!?" At this point they stopped disguising their voice and I was positive it was a female. I got an inkling it was one of the Senshi.

"I don't wish to harm you," I said. "Um, Ms. Senshi."

"How can you tell I'm a Senshi? It's pitch black in here. Maybe I'm NOT a Senshi," she said. "Maybe I'm a big, ugly, man eating monster! Ha! Take that, whoever you are!"

"Well, let's see then," I said, activating a light spark. I heard a scream and once my eyes adjusted I saw the Halo girl, her head down and her palms outstretched in front of her. She was also shaking like a leaf.

"I, I'll hurt you, I'm, I'm not afraid to, to do it," she said.

I laughed. "I couldn't hurt you even if I tried," I said. 

The girl looked up slowly and ran her eyes up and down me. Her eyes widened and she gasped in surprise. "You, you're one of the Ronin Warriors Anubis told us about!" she said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? He did?"

Her demeanor suddenly changed from surprise to anger. "Stupid liar," she said.

I sighed. "I'm going to assume you're mad because he didn't tell you he used to work for the Dynasty? Right?"

"Bingo," she said. "Why did he lie to us like that!? Why am I asking you, I don't even know you!" She turned her back to me and started to walk away, swaying her hips as she did. I wasn't sure if she was leading me on or just generally being a bitch, but either way, I had to second her notions.

"Well, my name is Sage Date, but I'm better known around here as Sage of the Halo," I said, extending my hand. My partner in arms turned around to look at me in interest. She started to walk back over to me, slowly, looking at my hand as if it were a smoking gun. The girl nervously took it. "I don't bite," I said, laughing slightly. "Now, what's your name?"

"My name's Samantha Thomas, Sam, Halo of the Senshi," she said. She sounded nervous and unsure of herself, which she had been for most of our short conversation. Considering I didn't have the Virtue of Wisdom for nothing, I figured out what was wrong with her.

"Are you scared of me?" I asked. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"That's not what I'm afraid of," said Sam. "I could take you if I had the chance to." She lowered her eyes. 

"Well, are you afraid I'm going to think lowly of you? Cause I don't have a reason to," I said. "I don't know much about you either and what I know doesn't seem so bad aside from the fact a person can't get two words out of you without a struggle."

"I'm afraid that I'm supposed to end up marrying you and bearing your children like it or not," she said coldly. "Well, let me tell you this, SAGE. I'm no man's woman and I'll-"

I coughed. Nah, I choked. "Hold the phone, you think we're what?!"

"You heard me. Stuck together, although you probably don't mind-" she started, now sounding more angry and upset than anything else.

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "No. That's not how it works. Just because we have the same armor doesn't mean we have to hook up! Tons of ancient bearers have gotten hooked up with people other than Ronins or Warladies," I said. "We're not destined to be lovey-dovey. Most of the time Ronin Warriors don't even MEET the Senshi."

She blinked, looking at me with renewed interest. "Is that true?" asked Sam.

"Why would I say it otherwise if it weren't?" I said. "What makes you think that any of the Ronin Warriors would want to be tied down to one woman like it or not?"

"Why would it matter if all men do in a marriage is get their wife pregnant and beat them to death?" asked Sam. She then looked up at me and froze. "Mother. . ." She clenched her eyes shut and dropped to the ground, crying her eyes out.

I gawked and joined her on the floor. "Okay, I THINK I've got a good picture here on what's going on," I said. "Let's have a talk."

"Why?" asked Sam, now close to tears.

"Well, I think I have a pretty good idea where that last statement came from and I think you're also curious why we're here. . ."

~

I was right. Sam had watched her father kill her mother when she was younger. In return, she hated men. I wasn't sure how to heal those wounds, so I told her about my family. I told her about my parents, my grandfather, and my sisters. I told a few funny stories and a few kind of embarrassing stories. It got a few laughs out of her. I smiled. She was pretty when she laughed. 

"So then when my mom found out that Mittens was purple, she grounded me and Kaitlyn for a MONTH," I said. 

"But you were eight!" said Sam, her cheeks now a rosy pink color from all the light-hearted emotions I'd drawn out of hiding.

"I should have known not to get into Serena's hair dye," I said. 

Sighing (almost) happily, Sam looked at me. "Why did you tell me all this?" she asked.

"Because I wanted you to know that not all families are like what yours was," I said. "Not every man is abusive."

Sam rested her head on my shoulder, sniffling. I gently hugged her and began to rub her back. She made no protest to the notion, seeing some sort of comfort from it. Something she probably hadn't ever gotten from a man before. "Why did he do it?" she asked. "My mom didn't want to die. . ."

"Some people are sick like that, but you can't live in the past. Remember the past, live today, and work for the future," I said. "You've got to learn to trust again."

"Can I?" asked Sam. "I mean, ten years of distrust. . ."

"You can do it," I said. "I know you can."

Sam smiled weakly at me. Then, her eyes lost some of their seriousness. "So, uh, why are we here? You never went over that," I said. "In fact, why are YOU here? Aren't you supposed to fight your battles against Talpa?"

"Oh, right," I said. "I guess I was worried about you. Okay, well, during our second war. . ."

~

". . .and if I don't cooperate, my friends die," I said.

Sam listened intently. "I don't know what she plans to use against me, probably threaten my aunt or someone I'm close to," she said. "But somehow I think that your friends staying alive is important. If Trulpa is as powerful as you say, then we're going to need as much help as we need."

Soon, the door opened. "Halos, Trulpa wishes to see you."

Sam snorted. "In your dreams. Tell her to go f-"

"Don't, Sam," I warned, placing a hand on her shoulder to hold her back. "I feel the same way but unfortunately Trulpa's word is law here, and there's only so far you can push her. You nearly overstepped it by a long shot."

Sam nodded as we proceeded to the door.

~

Hi! I know, I usually don't do any author's notes at the end of a chapter, but I felt like now was an appropriate time to do so. Er herm. If it seems like there are some places that are short, repetitive, or otherwise redundant, there's a reason for it. _The Armor of the Soul_ used to be five separate stories: _Kaze_, _The Fortune Teller's Fortune_, _The Jewel of Death_, _The Child of Destiny_, and _The Under City_. For many miscellaneous reasons, I've decided that it would be easier to post it on FF.Net as one story. In a way you can see where one plot line starts and another ends. _Kaze_ ended on chapter eight and _The Fortune Teller's Fortune_ began with what is now chapter nine. The area we are in right now, _The Jewel of Death_, originally began on the chapter that talked about Cara's past. Hope that cleared some things up! I'll put more notes when the other two stories start. See ya! _~Dixxy_


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Journey to the Jewel

(Sam)

I guess I kind of trusted Sage. Maybe it was the connection of the armors, but I could tell he only wanted to protect me from harm. Poor guy was in a tough position to do that. I felt bad for him, to an extent. I only KIND OF trusted him, after all.

Still, what he said about normal family life did make sense. Sara and her family were like that a lot. I don't think a day goes by that she doesn't complain about something one of her siblings did to bug her- she's like Sage, a middle child. Even in their unusual position, what with both parents in wheelchairs, Keisha's family was similar to what Sage told me about. Were other families like that?

Cara and Cale escorted us into Trulpa's throne room. Now that I saw Cara I understood why we could never see her eyes. These big, maroon swimming goggles covered her eyes. They shone in the dim light, giving her an eerie, mad scientist look. But something about those glasses just seemed wrong. Something about them. . . I didn't like them. Given I was in a world where just about EVERYTHING was wrong, but the glasses were something I couldn't describe.

"Keep moving," she said coldly. Sage shot her a look. She didn't responded to it.

Before long we were brought into a large throne room decorated in bloody reds and ebony blacks. Six more warlords and ladies stood before Trulpa, who was sitting on a deep black throne. Unlike the last time we saw her, she wore a purple and red dress , but her little skull tiara remained.

I looked over the other people. One of the women had deep, ash black hair and a gruesome black spider web tattooed on her face. The man standing next to her looked like a pirate with his black eye patch and white hair. Two very snakelike people, the man with green hair and the woman with purple, also stood before Trulpa. The last two looked more. . . normal. The man had dirty blonde hair and the woman had Anubis' hair color with yellow streaks throughout it.

"Ah, welcome, welcome," said Trulpa, standing up and walking over to us. I started welling up spit in the bottom of my mouth. Then, when she got close enough, I'd spit at her. Right in the eye hopefully.

"Swallow your saliva, Samantha," said Trulpa. Not sure how she knew, I did. I looked over at Sage and he just shrugged. The look he gave me told me that he and his friends had tried that game before. And lost. Miserably. "Now I'm guessing Sage told you why you're here, or do I have to tell you the whole story?"

"You can get him to do it because you have his friends, whatcha gonna do to get me to do it, too, huh?" I said.

Trulpa smiled. Then she snapped her fingers as two thirteen year olds stepped out. The girl wore a green leotard over white leggings and a small, light brown armor over that. Long, blue hair was held in a high pony tail. The boy had the same hair, only shorter and wavy. His armor was a simple light samurai outfit. "May I introduce you to Lady Kayura and Lord Kamusa?"

"The last of the Ancient's clan," I said. Sage nodded, acknowledging my statement as correct.

"Sage told you a lot, I see," said Trulpa thoughtfully. "How cute. No matter. Kayura and Kamusa are easily the stealthiest, the most efficient, and most deadly assassins in the Dynasty. How would your dear Aunt Ella fare against them?"

"Ella!" I said, my eyes widening. No, not Ella! She'd raised me! Taken me in after my parents died! If you take away the Senshi, she was all I had. If something happened to Ella. . . I didn't know WHAT I'd do. "Let her go!"

"I didn't capture her, you dimwit. She's safe and sound back in Boston. But we know exactly where she is, you see, and these two will get rid of her," said Trulpa. Both assassins began to sharpen very sharp swords, each glinting in the candlelight that lit Trulpa's throne room.

"She's telling the truth. I haven't actually seen Kamusa in action, but Kayura's a walking lethal weapon," said Sage. "I don't think your aunt would stand a chance, even if Anubis and your friends got there."

"Listen to the boy," said Trulpa. She grinned, then chuckled. "He knows the sting Kayura can leave. She enjoys tormenting her victims before making the killing. I would like to say the same for Kamusa, but. . . as of yet, he's only been a spy. Though I'm sure that he'd make some very interesting cuts and stabs given the chance. Or perhaps they could just kidnap her back here- I'm sure the Warlords wouldn't mind her company."

"You. . . you. . ." I started, getting very angry. Cara held me back. 

"Uh-uh-ah!" said Trulpa, shaking her finger and clicking her tongue. "Now, we have a somewhat long journey ahead of us, so, don't disobey me. You, my dear Senshi, loose your only family. You, my dear Warrior, loose the only people who you trust and cherish as friends that you can show your face around without causing a commotion."

Sage grimaced. I knew that Trulpa had definitely hit a sensitive spot. I felt even worse for him now. Did he really put up with this for a YEAR!? Dear Lord, I don't know if I'd survive a few days without going completely insane! 

Trulpa just stood up. "We leave immediately."

"Leave?" I asked. I exchanged a look with Sage. He shrugged. "Where are we going?"

"The location of the Jewel of Death: the White Mountains," said Trulpa.

That was interesting. The White Mountains are the northern most mountains of the Appalachian Mountain Range. They're known as the White Mountains because of lots and lots of snow. In fact, that's where Keisha's family had their summer house. And, if I was lucky, they weren't too far from where Rona was.

Speaking of which, I had no idea what she did. Did she go back to Boston for help? Or did she stay put and try to figure out what happened? 

"Where?" I asked.

"That's why we need you brats. We don't know WHICH mountain," she said. 

"And there's a lot of mountain range to search through," I said. _The girls will bust us out before that happens. . . but what about his friends? They don't even KNOW about the other two. . . oh, what to do, what to do. . ._

This was going to be hard. . .

~

Trulpa took Cale, Cara, Sage, and me to the mountains immediately. I was in my regular clothing, while she'd given Sage and her minions their own clothes. We were briefly in a store since Trulpa wanted something to bring back (Why an evil Dynasty empress was souvenir shopping is beyond me). Sage and I were instructed to "act normal". Cara and Cale tried to do that, although Cara got a few stares due to her bug eye glasses. She didn't seem to notice.

Weird. . .

I noticed Sage seemed to look relieved. It must have been his first time back in the Mortal Realm for a long time. He looked at some of the things in the store with a serious monotone, running his hands over a few of the items. Some of those things must have either brought back memories from his family (his mother was an American and part of their home was furnished as if it were in the Western world) or he was just going into some sort of a state of shock. I wanted to say something nice, but I never really learned how to do that. Especially with a guy, since I spent two thirds of my fifteen years avoiding them.

Me, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do next. I wasn't exactly thrilled about helping Trulpa, although I didn't have much of a choice. I knew Sage must have felt the same way, but it was that or loose the ones closest to us.

After Trulpa bought a box of some sort of candy, we left for the first mountain. As we started off towards the wilderness, Sage took my hand and squeezed it. Somehow, I needed that.

~

After several hours of failures, we set up camp on one of the mountains. Trulpa warned us that if we tried escape that we knew the consequences, so we stayed. I didn't want to, though. Cara and Cale set up three tents, one for Trulpa, one for Cale, and the other were Cara would be guarding me and Sage. 

Lucky us.

The tent was a weak cotton that let the wind in. Trulpa had our armor orbes in case we tried anything that might get us out of obeying her and saving my aunt and his friends, so we were stuck in what we had. Cara had a warm, woolen blanket wrapped around her shoulders as she sat just outside the shoulders.

After about a half hour of sitting in the dark tent and saying nothing, Sage began to crawl for the exit. I wondered what he was doing.

"Sage get back in there," said Cara. Her back was still to the entrance, she hadn't moved a muscle, and it was as if she just. . . KNEW. . . that Sage had moved. _Sage, you're busted. . ._

"But I gotta go," he said.

Cara grumbled. I almost laughed. "Fine. But make it quick. No more than five minutes, got it?"

"Got it," he said, standing up and disappearing into the night.


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Five: Startling Discovery

(Sage)

While I was on my way to the bush to answer nature's call, I started thinking. Something about Cara just a few moments before had puzzled me. I had been very quiet- something all Ronins are good at- and yet she knew it was me AND that I had moved. But how? She didn't even turn around. Her senses couldn't have been THAT good, even after four hundred years of fine tuning them.

Unless. . .

My mind began working. I had a few options going through my head. Some were a little unbelievable, even for all the magic and destiny I'd been faced with, but some worked. I finally decided on the one I found most plausible and believable. 

And, for that matter, most likely.

Once I was done and back in the tent, I waited until I was sure Cara was asleep. "Sam?" I asked in a hushed whisper. She was curled up, her back to me. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Sam, who was just getting to sleep, sat up and looked at me. "What?" she hissed. Yeah, she was definitely grumpy. Actually, she was kind of cute when she was grumpy. I don't know, maybe I'm just used to seeing grumpy women- I have an older sister and a younger sister, after all. I've gotten chased out of their rooms and screamed at before. Part of being a brother.

"I think I figured out something important," I said. "It's about Cara. If I'm right, it could make a huge difference in the outcome of this whole wild goose chase."

This caught Sam's attention. "You have my full attention, if you think it'll bust us out without getting someone hurt," she said. She crossed her legs and looked at me expectantly. "Spill it."

"Well," I said, "did you notice how Cara didn't turn around when she told me to get back inside?"

"Yeah, so?" said Sam. 

"And did you notice how she noticed it was me?" I said.

Sam shrugged.

"Sam, how did she KNOW it was me that was moving and not you?" I asked.

"Lucky guess?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know, what does it matter?"

"Just hear me out," I said. "I think Trulpa's going to rotate the guarding shift to Cale tomorrow night. Hopefully we don't find the jewel tomorrow, because if I'm right, we might be able to get Cara to join us."

Now Sam's eyes widened. "Are you nuts?!"

"No, just trust me on this one. It might work. . ."

~

As I'd hoped, we didn't find the Jewel. Trulpa was mad and couldn't punish me (I love it when that happens) and put Cale on guard duty. I waited a while and then proceeded, just as before, to the entrance to the tent. 

Cale didn't move or make any instance he knew what was going on. It wasn't until I was sticking my head out of the tent and asking him to go use the little boy's bush before he noticed me leaving. "Make it quick, Halo," he snapped. I could tell Cale was mad, but I'd forgive him later since I knew that he was brainwashed.

When I got back, Sam was wide eyed. But she didn't ask me what we both knew she was going to ask until we heard Cale snoring rather loudly outside of the tent. "How'd you know that they'd act so differently?" asked Sam. "It took Scar Boy FOREVER to notice you!"

I nodded. "Actually, it's pretty simple. Cara's blind."

My partner in arms looked at me skeptically. "Blind?"

I nodded. "Blind. Once, when I was a kid, there was a blind kid at my school for a while. He came about a third of the way into the year, so he was a new kid. The principal had these special speakers come in to tell us all about blind people and stuff like that so we would know how to communicate with him and how the class would be different. One of the things we learned was that blind people have incredibly increased senses since they don't have vision. Mother Nature has to kick in since humans are by nature a visual species- when you don't have vision, everything else gets bumped up by a LOT."

"But how could she tell it was you? I get the hearing part but-"

"Cara's over four hundred years old. Aging or not, her hearing must be absolutely incredible. It's had a ton of time to develop, especially where we think she's blind. She could probably hear a spider spin its web a mile away. So if it's good enough, she can tell the difference between you shifting around and me shifting around since we're different sizes, weights, and shapes. Plus we're wearing different fabrics of clothing," I explained. This was true. While we both wore jeans, they were different styles. Sam's were tighter than mine, except from her knees down, which was bell bottoms. Mine were baggy carpenter pants. My shirt was cotton T-shirt (usually over my shoulder since it got SCORCHING HOT) and Sam was wearing a spandex tank top, probably part of a swim suit. "To someone with an untrained ear, if they heard, they'd have to ask which one of us it was. Cara heard my T-shirt rustling along with my jeans so she knew it wasn't you."

"Wow," said Sam. "You're smart. But are you sure?"

"Pretty darn sure," I said. "Cale has basically the same armor she has. If it was armor related then he would have done the same thing, and I know Cale isn't blind. He calls me Blondie Brat all the time. Cara just calls me Halo."

"Think it explains her goggles?" asked Sam.

I shrugged. "Probably some sort of a motion detector like that guy on Star Trek has- you know, so she has SOME vision, but not enough to tell the difference between a beach ball and a tennis racket. Sides, probably more magic based."

Sam sighed. "How does that help us? So what if she can't see us, she doesn't need to if her senses are that good."

"But no matter how good your others senses are, every blind man wishes to see. Every deaf man wishes to hear. Every mute man wishes to speak. Every man in a wheelchair wants to walk. Even if her element is the darkness, she probably hates us because we control something she has absolutely no hold on: light," I said.

"So you're saying if we make her see she might leave Trulpa?" said Sam.

"Maybe not LEAVE Trulpa, but we might be able to make a deal with her at least," I said. "IF we're lucky, but we've got one slight problem."

"What's that?"

I sighed heavily. "Cara's symbol is Obedience."

"The Warladies have virtues?" asked Sam.

"Yes. Vanessa has Piety, Daria has Serenity although that makes NO sense, and Anubra has Loyalty," I said. "Obedience and Loyalty are the hardest of the virtues to break from. Anubis' virtue was Loyalty, so he was supposed to be loyal to Talpa no matter what, until the Ancient told him yeah, he's loyal as a small puppy, but he gets to choose his master. So he left Talpa and plead loyalty to the Ancient."

"He had to fight a force as strong as part of his armor?" said Sam, bewildered. Then, she lowered her head and looked disgusted with herself. "Now I feel bad for deserting him like that."

"Well, he did lie to you, but he had to. The whole Law of Dependency. Kento had to deal with that head on, too," I said. "Part of the duty of the Ronin Warriors, if they unite with the Senshi, is to protect the Senshi in tough situations. Chivalry, basically. But it took everything he had to not cast some sort of a calming spell over her."

"So that's the crazy voice Keisha heard. And we were ready to give her a catscan," said Sam, laughing slightly. "Guess I owe her an apology when we get back. She's not crazy like I originally thought after all." 

I almost laughed. "That's beside the point. What we need to figure out is whether or not we can use Cara as an ally."

"Right, so let's get to work," said Sam.


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Six: Back in Boston

(Evan)

I'm not sure exactly what my reaction was when I first found out my baby sister was going to be a super hero. I sort of knew it was true. My dad was a little skeptical, and my mom was just worried. But as time passed, we all knew Keisha was getting involved in something we'd never be able to understand.

In a way it was good. Aside from the fact they saved the world, we made a lot of friends. Trev and I are best friends, and we might've not met had our little sisters not been Senshi. My mom, Sam's aunt, Ria's great aunt, and Sara's mom all get together often to trade recipes and have parties for either beauty supplies or kitchen stuff. I like going to the kitchen ones because they have food there.

Mmm, tacos. . .

And all the men get together, too. That's Rona's dad, Sara's dad, our dad (although it's hard with him to get accommodations for seats with him), Mike, and Anubis. Usually they go out to a bar or a sporting game. Trev and I go with them a lot on the sporting things, since as far as guys went in the circle of friends, we were really outnumbered by women. At least it wasn't like the guy in the Tylenol commercial. You know, the guy with six daughters, his wife, and even a girl dog? Dude, that was funny.

If you don't know, please don't ask. . .

But it was scary, too. I mean, sometimes we'd all sit down for a little support group. There's always the possibility one of the girls won't come home. It was torture during the week of the war, and I know we were all panicking before the Kaze incident. And now that Sam and Rona were missing, things got worse. 

So on day two or three, Keisha came home late. I was up keeping watch for her. Our parents had gone to bed early since both had important things to do the following day. Leaving me to worry. 

"So, what happened?"

"Bad news?" said Keisha. She plopped down into the couch, a worried look on her face. But, strangely enough, a slight smiled played on her lips. "Still not really sure where they are, they're most likely to the north, and Sam's probably in trouble."

My eyes widened. "Is there any good news?" I asked, sitting up in the chair I was sitting in.

Keisha nodded. "You know those Ronin Warriors I told you that Anubis told us about?"

"Yeah?" I asked.

"One of them is in Boston," she said. "He and two of the other were captured by Trulpa nearly a year ago. He just escaped after the Kaze incident and got attacked by a demon woman." Keisha then proceeded to tell me about what happened to the Ronin Warriors known as Kento of the Hardrock, Cye of the Torrent, and Sage of the Halo.

I wasn't sure what to say when I learned that it was this Kento character whom they'd met up with. His armor was connected to my little sister's armor. What did THIS mean? "Oh," I said. "So how's he going to help?"

"We're going to try and set out looking for them sometime tomorrow. Anubis, Kento and I are going to try and use our powers to get a lock on one of their locations to help us find them, since they're definitely separated at this point," said Keisha. "I just hope they're both okay."

"Uh huh," I said. "What are you guys looking at?"

"We aren't sure. We know that the other two are in the Dynasty and we need to bust them out," she replied. "What we need to do is figure out how and when we do that. But we gotta go get Rona and Sam first so we can at least use the Inferna."

"Plus you'd have the Golden Walking Stick and this Kento guy with you," I said. The Golden Walking Stick was a stupid name Trevor had come up with for the Ancient's Staff. Anubis doesn't like it very much. Normally use of this term when around Anubis results in getting smacked on the head with the said Staff. And I can tell you from experience that it HURTS.

Keisha gave me a look. "Evan, I know what you're thinking."

"That the Walking Stick is a funny name?" I asked.

"No. You're nervous because we're going to start talking with the Ronin Warriors and you aren't sure what's going to happen," said Keisha. I gulped. "Anubis said that sometimes things happen, sometimes they don't. As a matter of fact, if it makes you feel any better, no Ronin or Warlord has yet to have children. As far as we know."

I cocked an eyebrow. "That's weird."

"None of them have been married, or, if they were married, never had children with their spouse. According to Anubis that would end up being interesting. Then someone called a Child of Destiny would be born."

"Eh?" I asked. "You mean like the music group?"

"Not Destiny's Child, Child of Destiny. The first time that anyone from any of the armors has a child, they become the Child of Destiny. They bear a different armor from their parent but can use their own armors powers or their parents armor power. So if I had a kid they might get a Halo armor and use earth and light powers. Any other child to an armor bearer is simply a Child of Fate. Same deal, but the Child of Destiny has a special importance. Anubis has no idea what thought," said Keisha. (Author's Note to anyone who's read CoC: Hmm, I wonder where this is going?)

"Well, you'd better get some sleep. You're in for a long day tomorrow," I said. Keisha nodded and went up stairs. "G'night, little' Sis."

~

The next day, Trevor and I went to Mike's house. We walked. Why, I don't know. We found Ria, Keisha, Sara, Anubis, and a teenage Chinese guy that must've been Kento hanging out by Keisha's car. The monk was giving a last minute prep talk. Anubis looked up at us. "Evan? Trevor?"

"Um, hi," said Trevor, waving sheepishly.

"What do you want, Trevor?" asked Sara, looking disgusted with her older brother. 

"Just wanted to see you off," I said. "Good luck."

"Thanks!" said Ria, giving us a smile and a thumbs up.

Kento walked over to us, pressed his hands together, and bowed. "Hello. I have heard many good things about you, Evan, from your lovely sister and many horrible things about you, Trevor, from Sara."

Trevor groaned as I laughed. "What did she tell-" I started, then recalled exactly what he'd said about Keisha. My eyes widened in surprise. "Just what did you call my sister?!" I asked.

"Lovely, and she is," said Kento. He smiled. "You must have difficulty fending her off from possible suitors. I imagine you and your father must have shotguns next to the front door?" Keisha blushed profoundly, looking at Kento with a glimmer in her eyes I hadn't ever seen before.

I decided to pull Keisha's chain in response to what Kento was telling me. He seemed like a good natured guy and it seemed as if it wouldn't take much to get him into a joke. "You know, if you want her, she only costs five bucks."

"EVAN!" said Keisha, looking rather angry with me.

Kento looked confused. "You're selling me your little sister for five dollars?"

I laughed. "Oh yeah, it's just typical sibling antics," I said. "You an only child?"

"Oldest of five," he said. Thoughtfully, bit his bottom lip. "Though, knowing my parents, could be more I don't know about by now." He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I always tried to sell mine for three hundred yen. Uh, that's about three dollars American. You have to sell them low or you won't get any potential buyers."

"Hey, Kento, dude, I'll GIVE you five bucks if you take Sara," said Trevor. 

"No way, too high maintenance," said Ria. Sara shot her and Trevor a look of indignity before jumping into the back seat and sticking her tongue out at us. Ria shook her head and Trevor laughed. I just sighed heavily.

"We'll compare prices later, but, we have at least three Ronins we need to figure out how to rescue," said Kento. He smiled as he climbed in the back with Keisha and Sara. "Nice meeting you, Evan."

I smiled. He wasn't such a bad guy. I smiled as they went down the driveway. Trevor tapped my shoulder. I turned to him and raised my eyebrows in question. "Hey, Evan?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Think the Torrent guy will take Sara if I raise it another five dollars?"


	27. Chapter Twenty-Seven

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Ever Pathetic First Battle by Lord Kamusa

(Anubis)

It was nice seeing Kento again. I really did miss him and the others, and it was probably a good thing for my mental health to have one of them around again. But now I had to worry about two of them. Trulpa must have still had something planned, and, trouble was, none of us had the slightest clue what. Was she going to try and use those two as bait to trap Kento again? Possess Sage (can't possess Torrents, after all)? Kill them?

I could tell Kento was worried about them, despite his light hearted conversation with the girls. They seemed to like him, which, wasn't a surprise. When he wasn't on the battle field, he was a very charismatic young man. Though I think all of us could see that the one most interested in him was Keisha. Sara had supposedly seen the two kissing, which I wasn't sure what to say to. They'd only known each other for roughly a day. Kissing already? What was it about those two?

"Well, where are we now?" asked Ria as we were stopped at a red light. I looked around myself. We were in a city almost as busy and crowded as Boston. 

"We're in a city, that's for sure," said Keisha. "Sorry if I don't know the name, but, I can feel Rona nearby, I just don't know where."

"I'd check a mall if I were you," said Sara. "You know Rona- anywhere she thinks she can find new friends or cute guys, she'll be there, and since it's a Saturday during the summer. . ."

"True," said Keisha.

Kento sighed. "It's a Saturday, and she HAD to go a mall," he said. He groaned, not sounding very happy with the whole situation. "Great, just great. Why don't girls understand that it's suicide to be at a mall on a SATURDAY!?"

"I agree," I said. "Be warned, about a week after I arrived in Boston, the girls took me shopping for clothes. It wasn't fun."

"Oh joy," said Kento. "I get to be their personal play toy." I laughed. As did the girls. Kento whimpered.

~

We went to a fairly large, one floor mall in one of the shopping districts of the city. "She's definitely here," said Keisha, looking around. "I can't see her, but I can definitely sense her."

Ria sighed. "Should I yell at her for running off, or should I just strangle her?" she asked. She cracked her knuckles in case she chose option two.

"No, this is my fault, Ria," I said. "She and Sam had every right to be angry."

"But storming off like they did?" said Kento. He shook his head, folding his arms. "I'll admit, back in Japan Cye and I did that on occasion when we got into a fight or something with Ryo or one of the others, but we were never gone longer than a few hours, tops. That just gets everyone else worried and all flustered."

"You were also fifteen and not old enough to drive. How far could you have gone?" I said. "In the case of these two, Rona has a motorcycle."

"She's eighteen?" asked Kento, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, the American driving age is sixteen," said Keisha. "I drove, remember?"

"Oh," said Kento. "I was gonna ask, but the last time I asked a girl how old she was I got slapped."

Keisha giggled, placing a hand on his shoulder sympathetically. "Poor guy," she said. "I'm sixteen. No big deal. C'mon, let's go find Rona."

We started looking in stores and trying to decide where she'd go. "Well, she wouldn't be in the Men's Wearhouse!" "What about KB Toys?" "Hey, look, Coconuts!" "What if she's in the bathroom?"

Then we walked past the food court. I eyed the Orange Julius counter hungrily. A worker was handing a woman a cup of the cold, fruity goodness that I am convinced is the greatest achievement of mankind to this date alongside tissue boxes, computers, and _Kids in the Hall_. "Orange Julius. . ." I said.

Ria sighed. "Anubis, you've never been able to say 'one' and 'Orange Julius' in the same sentence. Didn't you get in trouble with security for grabbing that kid behind the counter because you'd already had about five?"

Kento slowly turned his head to look at me. "Five?" he asked. "Sheesh, is it a beer or a fruit drink?"

"Well, he's got an idea there. Rona likes Orange Julius too, but it isn't pumping through her blood," said Sara. She smiled cheerfully. "Maybe she got hungry? We'll scan the food court and Anubis can have an Orange Julius. ONE."

I frowned. I headed to the Orange Julius counter and ordered the largest size they had before joining the girls in their search. Before long I saw that Keisha had located Rona in the corner of the food court, who looking depressed over a slice of pizza. I could see the other three already on their way over. So I started over as well. They stood up so Rona could dump her plate and started heading to a door. 

Once I reached the door, the other three were already there, Keisha introducing Kento to Rona. She hadn't said he was a Ronin yet, so Rona kept making jokes about Keisha getting a boyfriend. Both Hardrocks blushed. 

I decided to save them. "Let's get back outside to the car. Rona, tell us everything. We've got a few things to tell you as well."

~

"Well, any ideas?" I asked after hearing Rona's story. We'd driven to a more private area than the mall parking lot so we could talk. Rona had been on her motorcycle, the rest of us in the car. I turned to Kento. "Do you have any idea why Trulpa would want Sam?"

"Why would he know anything?" asked Rona. "By the way, who is this guy aside from Keisha's new boyfriend?"

"Would you stop that!?" said Keisha, looking a bit. . . flustered.

Kento cleared his through and stood up. "I am Kento of the Hardrock, one of the mighty Ronin Warriors, Madame Strata," he said, bowing to her. To add to her growing look of surprise, he gently kissed the back on her hand. Keisha shot him a look that he just grinned back at. Sara and Ria was back to back, bracing the other's laughing fit.

Rona's eyes widened. "Oh! But I thought-"

"Long story," said Kento, standing and holding his hands up. "Look, I don't know what Trulpa wants with Sam, but it could have something to do with Sage."

"Good point," said Ria. "But what would she do?"

"Create a giant lightning storm?" asked Sara.

"Could someone fill me in!?" said Rona, looking exasperated. "Jewel of Death? Sage? Lightning storm? I DON'T KNOW WHAT ANY OF YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT AND I DON'T LIKE IT!!!!!!!"

"Um, we should fill her in," said Keisha. Laughing sheepishly, we all began to explain what had happened since Rona had left Boston with Sam. Kento told her about what had happened to him and the other two.

Rona looked at Kento with sympathy. "Man, that's gotta suck royally. I hated being her prisoner for a day or so. I can't imagine nine months in there," she said. She narrowed her eyes. "We're going to make sure that she pays DEARLY for this one. That's just. . . horrible!"

"Well, the question is, how do we do her in?" asked Ria.

"YOU SHALL ALL BOW TO LADY TRULPA!!!!!!!!"

Kento rolled his eyes, then lowered them. "Kamusa, go away," he said. "I don't feel like being harassed today, I'm not Trulpa's prisoner anymore, and I'm not going back to her."

I watched as Kayura's twin brother stepped out of the bushes. "So, what are you doing here? Wait a sec, Hardrock, you weren't supposed to escape when the Kaze experiment failed!" he said.

"Oh really, like I'm SOOO sorry," he said. Kento stood up and folded his arms. Despite the fact that he probably KNEW the power Kamusa possessed, he seemed more annoyed with the last male Ancient than anything else. _I'm still surprised he's alive. . . and here I thought Kayura was the VERY last of the _"All right Kamusa, what's Trulpa up to now?"

"Oh, she's using the Halos to get to the Jewel of Death in the White Mountains," said Kamusa. "I'm here to kill you all."

"Is your sister nearby?" asked Kento. 

Kamusa shook his head. "Nope. She's back in the Dynasty. Waiting for me."

"Good," said Kento. "Because you're going back there right now." 

"No, I have to fight you all and make you bow down to my mistress before I can- GAH!" cried Kamusa as Kento lifted him off the ground by the front of his armor. "What are you doing?"

"Something I've wanted to do for a while," said Kento. He began to swing Kamusa above his head and threw him towards the beginning of the mountain range. We heard his scream until a red gateway opened, catching him. It immediately closed. "That, felt good."

I turned to Kento. "What the heck were you doing?"

"I'm sick of him," said Kento. "You have no idea how much of a pain he is, and this is the first time I've been able to get back at him. Don't worry, he'll be fine, but next time he'll bring Kayura."

"That guy was a push-over," said Keisha. 

I groaned. "Well, at least we know what Trulpa's doing. So, uh, what IS the Jewel of Death?" asked Kento. 

"Oh. Well, it was something Talpa and Trulpa worked on before they became enemies. Probably an evil twin of the Jewel of Life. The two Halos from a hundred years ago stole it and then hid it, but no one knows where since Talpa killed them in a fit of rage," said Anubis. 

"Well, looks like Trulpa's hunted it down at least some of the way," said Rona. "She must need Sam and the Halo guy to get to it.:"

"Probably," said Kento. "C'mon, let's go and figure out which mountain they went to."


	28. Chapter Twenty-Eight

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Jewel

(Sam)

As the next day or so passed, I discovered I was beginning to like Sage. He was a fairly nice guy and could come up with some interesting behind-the-back comments about Trulpa. As an added bonus, he was coming up with some decent ideas as to how to get Cara to join us.

But it was getting tense. Every mountain we tried came up empty handed. Trulpa was getting angrier and angrier, and we were running out of mountains. Cale at one point suggested that they might have to check the mountain range in Vermont. Trulpa screamed at him for that, nearly causing an avalanche. Cara mostly remained quiet. 

The night after Cale "helped" Sage with his theory, Cara was on guard again. Sage boldly went over to Cara to ask her the inevitable. He tapped her shoulder. "What, do you need to go again?"

"No," said Sage. "We want to talk to you."

"What about?" asked Cara, slowly turning around. 

"We know you're blind," I blurted. Sage turned back to me, a look on his face of something close to pain. _Oops. I blew it! She's going to turn us into monster food or worse!_

Cara's eyes widened. "So if I am?" she asked. I then noticed that her voice was a bit shaky, like she was nervous. I inwardly took a sigh of relief. I HADN'T ruined everything. Yet.

"Were you born that way?" asked Sage.

"N, no, but why do you care?!" asked Cara, now obviously upset over the subject.

"So at one point you could see," I said. "You know what colors, shapes, values, and space look like. I bet you miss all that, don't you? You MISS seeing things, even if your element IS the darkness!"

"We can heal you and make you be able to see again," replied my partner in arms. "Don't you miss seeing? Don't you miss color? The darkness means nothing if there's nothing to compliment it."

Cara turned back. "Shut up or I'll tell Trulpa you two tried to escape and she'll then have your loved ones killed. Think about it, Halos. You'll be all alone in this world. Your parents think you're dead, Sage- you couldn't go back to them. The only people you have are Hardrock and Torrent. And Sam, poor little Sam won't have anywhere to go if her poor Auntie Ella dies."  
Sage and I exchanged looks. The look in his eyes told me that we'd at the very least, tried. But none the less, we both knew that we could very well be in a very large amount of trouble.

~

The following morning we reached the top of Mt. Washington, the highest mountain in the region. It was windy and cold, something that the mountain is famous for. Heck, Mt. Washington currently holds the record for the fastest recorded wind speeds of all time (Sage pointed this out in a book he'd found on the ground about Mt. Washington).

Today was particularly windy. 

"There's a lot of buildings here," said Cale. 

"It's a tourist spot. There's all sorts of cool things up here, like a research center and a hotel and even a train station." I said. 

"Your trivial matters mean nothing," said Trulpa. "I can sense the seal. It's here, I know it!"

Cale's eyes glistened evilly. "Lead the way, Trulpa, lead the way. I'm anxious to see the Jewel of Death. I'm anxious to execute our plan."

"What plan?" I asked. Sage shrugged as Cale and Cara made us follow Trulpa to a spot a good ways away from the mountaintop buildings. Trulpa then drew a circle with her foot. "Right here."

"What, do we start digging?" asked Cale.

Trulpa fumed. "No, the Halos have to stand in the circle and create whatever doorway it is to wherever Nako and Sachi hid it!"

Cara and Cale forced us to stand in the center of the circle. Trulpa gave us our armor orbes. I looked down at the green orbe, then looked up at my enemy in suspicion. Sage had a similar look on his face. "Armor up to subarmor. No tricks," she said. Sage and I had no choice but to obey. "Now, how do you summon the doorway?"

"I have an idea," said Cale. He took my left hand and his right hand, pressing them together. He did the same with our remaining hands. "If they concentrate they might spark something."

"Try it," said Trulpa. Sage and I closed out eyes and we began to concentrate. I could feel his powers from the Armor of the Halo flow through my hands. I held back a gasp. Then I understood what Cale had done: he'd created a circuit between our armors. the power would keep passing through us until it became so powerful it would open up whatever door it was Trulpa wanted.

My eyes suddenly flashed open and everything went white. 

~

I woke up with a sick to my stomach feeling, kind of like the way I felt last time I ate some of Sara's cooking (which, to say the least, isn't very good. . .). "I wanna hurl," I mumbled. 

"Ah, good to see you're both up," said Trulpa. I looked over to see her clutching something in her hand, a string coming out the side. She opened her hand and I saw a black, beet shaped jewel in her hand. The glisten forced me to close my eyes. I could hear Sage wince somewhere nearby. Cale and Cara were on either side of her, laughing. Well, Cale was. Cara joined in shortly after. Of course she joined in after. She hadn't seen us wince. She couldn't see us wince.

I took time to figure out what the heck was going on. I was tied to a pillar of some sort, my wrist raised above my head, the binds attached to a hook. I could hardly move. "Where are we?"  
"The Temple of Halo," said Trulpa. "The Ancient was more crafty in hiding the resting places of the female armors. They're kept in shrines only accessible by either the two bearers of that armor type, or, by the Staff. It was luck I snuck in behind the Ancient to get the seasonal armors." I looked around, seeing the room was completely done over in emerald green. I saw my armor sitting on a platform, surrounded by a soft green glow. The no-datchi sat in the "lap" of the armor, glistening menacingly. 

"My armor," I said in amazement.

"Yes, pity I can't do anything to grab it," she said. "Since you're already claimed it I can't do anything to it unless you die from natural causes. Starvation and dehydration works, which is why I'm leaving you two here."

"But you can't kill us, and that-" started Sage.

"-is letting nature do the work for me," said Trulpa. Cale laughed, but Cara didn't. Her mouth and nose almost told me she was uncertain of what her mistress was saying. "Your deaths will be slow and painful, then I can have both of your armors. How perfect."

I struggled against my binds. "Trulpa, you'll never get away with this! How can you be so evil as to want to destroy everything? The Mortal Realm is beautiful. It's alive and full of life. Why do you want to destroy something so precious?"

"Destroy. . . everything?" said Cara slowly. All eyes turned to the Warlady of Darkness, Corruption and Decay. She turned to Trulpa in confusion (probably to hear her better more than anything else). "Trulpa, why do you want to destroy everything?"  
"Because birdies and kitties and trees don't do anything to appease me. I want control over this realm. I want to see every last living thing in the Mortal Realm to wither and die slowly and painfully," said Trulpa. "I want to see fish slowly suffocate on the land. I went to see birds with broken wings who will never fly again. But most of all I want to see each and every human die a slow, horrendously cruel death. It starts with them." Trulpa snickered. "Why do you ask, Cara?"

"No!" said Cara. "Why kill everything? Why rule over nothingness? Wouldn't it be better to rule over people? After a few generations you could be seen as a goddess! If you kill everything then there is no point in ruling over it! You'd be alone forever."

"You fool!" said Trulpa, turning on Cara. "Do you realize how much work that would be? I've already worked hard enough! The Mortal World will soon be as desolate and dry as the Dynasty! Suffering all around! Don't you want that?"

"No, I don't," said Cara. "I joined the Dynasty because I wanted revenge. You came to me on what should have been the happiest day of my entire life."

"It was- you joined my Dynasty," said Trulpa.

Cara shook her head. "No. I was supposed to be married. But my fiancé was killed that wretched Dynasty beast! I wanted revenge because no one helped. But in four centuries- MORE than four centuries- since I came here, I haven't found that revenge. I don't want to destroy the world. All I want is justice to be brought unto those who ruined my life. But now I realize that justice will never come. You never wanted me to join the Dynasty so I could do that- you just needed me to do your dirty work because I hold a mystical armor!"

"Someone's pulling an Anubis," Sage mumbled. 

Trulpa's eyes widened in rage at Cara, who tried to stand her ground. Then, she calmed down. An eerie calm. Trulpa narrowed her eyes, mumbled something, snapped her fingers, and Cara fell to her knees, crying out in pain. The Warlady pressed her hands over the goggles, crying out in pain. "This is what happens when you disobey me, Cara."

"What did you do to her?" I asked. 

"Those goggles were to serve two purposes: give her partial sight, since she's blind, and to serve as punishment would she go against her virtue and disobey me. The claws in the frames are ripping what's left of her eyes from their sockets," said Trulpa. She grinned. "She will die here with you. Come Cale, let's go." In a flash of black smoke, they were gone, leaving a hysterically Cara and a hopeless pair of Halos.


	29. Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Twenty-Nine: A New Ally

(Sage)

Even though Cara had been cruel to me during my captivity, I had begun to understand why. Now I felt bad for her as I watched her in pain on the floor. I had to help her! No one deserved something so ruthless and painful. She had joined the Dynasty because she'd been hurt and wanted healing. And I knew that Sam and I could give her the healing she needed. We couldn't bring her fiancé back from the dead, but we could restore her vision. "We've got to help her," I said to Sam.

"But how? We can't even help ourselves!" she said. 

"SAM!"

"Who said that?" I asked, looking up and around.

"It's one of the other Senshi! Keisha! She's our Hardrock! I don't know how she's here, but. . . KEISHA! WHERE ARE YOU!?" Sam answered. "HELP!"

"SAGE, YOU THERE, TOO?"

I nearly froze. "KENTO?!" I asked. Then, I inwardly sighed with relief. All right! The Senshi busted Kento and Cye out of the Dynasty! I watched as a door that I originally thought was part of the wall open. Kento and the black Senshi of Hardrock rushed in. Keisha gasped at the sight of Cara, and Kento looked confused, but he went over to where we were and began to untie us. 

"What happened to her?" asked Keisha. "I've never seen any of the Warladies like THIS before? Did something bad happen?" 

"Stay back, Trulpa did that to her," I said once the last of the ropes fell. I turned to my partner in arms and gestured over to where Cara sat crying. "Sam?"

"Sure thing," said Sam. The two of us walked over and knelt on either side of the sobbing Warlady. "Do you know how to do this?"

"Child's play," I said. I placed two gentle hands on Cara's shoulders. "Cara, calm down, we want to help you," I said. Cara grasped her knees, nodding. I felt around her goggles, which were strapped securely to her head.

"Sage, are you trying to HELP her?" asked Kento, his arms at his sides as he started to verbally announce his protest to what Sam and I were doing. "Are you nuts?! She's a bad guy! She'll kill you once you heal her!"

"Kento, she's changing sides," I said. 

"Keisha, how did you know that Trulpa had two of the Ronin Warriors ready to be killed?" asked Sam, holding one of Cara's hands. "Good move getting them out like you did."

"Huh?" asked Keisha, cocking her head to one side. "What are you talking about?"

"Trulpa told me that she had Kento and Cye in the gargoyles. She was going to use more energy than usual and kill you two," I said. I looked over at Kento, who had a look of bewilderment plastered onto his face. "Doesn't that ring a bell?"

"No. I got away when Kaze was destroyed. I've been in Boston since then," said Kento slowly. 

I froze. "What?"

"I was living with some fortune teller for a few weeks, working for her by reading fortunes, when-"

"But you weren't in the Dynasty," I said.

"No," said Kento.

I growled. "That lying piece of crap!" I said. "She told me if I didn't cooperate she'd kill you and Cye!"

Kento's eyes widened. "Kill us?" he said.

"And she was going to send Kayura and Kamusa to kill my aunt," said Sam. Then, her eyes widened in panic. "Ella!"

"Tiger Lily is back in Boston keeping an eye on our families," said Keisha. "They're all at Ria's place for now. But why would she lie about that?"

I sighed. "I don't know, but right now I'd suggest turning if you have a weak stomach. I found the switch to remove the goggles," I said. "And it isn't going to be pretty." Slowly, I clicked the buttons I'd found on the goggles and Cara cried. 

"The claws!" she said. 

"Are they going in?!" I asked. If I messed it up I could have hurt her even more than she already was.

"They came out but it HURT!" she screamed. 

"Well, stay calm. We've taking them off and we're going to heal you up," said Sam. The goggles slowly came off and I gasped. Blood poured down her face, her eye sockets filled with two indistinguishable red blobs of blood that were once her eyes. Cara got even worse as the blood began to flow down her next, mixing with her hair.

"Kento, hold her down!" I said. Kento darted behind her and put her in an arm lock. Cara wasn't too happy over that, crying out again. She started to beg for her mother and some man named Rinji in Japanese. "Sam, place your hands over her eyes."

Sam grimaced but did so. I placed my hands over her. "Now concentrate on healing her eyes. Concentrate hard, this is a pretty bad injury," I said. Sam just nodded as the two of us began to concentrate. I felt the warm power flow through our hands and into Cara's body. She quieted.

For several minutes, the combined healing powers that generated from my body and Sam's body flowed into Cara, slowly reconstructing her eyes. Veins that had been broken reconnected. The corneas, retinas, nerves, and all of the other parts were rebuilt.

Finally, the healing power stopped. I pulled my hands away from her eyes to see through the blood, two unmarred eyelids. Slowly, timidly, Cara opened her eyes. Pale blue eyes looked back at me. 

Cara moved her eyes around a little bit, as if she couldn't believe that she could see. The shock of suddenly seeing colors, shapes, motion again must've been a shock to her system. She raised her hand a few inches before her face and started to curl and uncurl her fingers. Tears began to mix with the red blood on her face. "I, I, I can see," she said. She laughed lightly. "I can see!" Her eyes turned to me. "You look like a yellow blob."

"Um, we might need to work on you again later," said Sam. She then looked down at her subarmor, which looked almost festive for Christmas with the red blood running all over her green subarmor. "I think we need to clean up. I look like one of Santa's elves got shot up."

"What's a Santa?" asked Cara, blinking. 

"Do we trust her?" asked Keisha. "I mean, she at least WAS working for Trulpa."

"Trulpa wouldn't have done that to one of her most valued generals unless she was REALLY firing them," said Kento. He sighed heavily, bit his lip, and nodded. "Let's get back to the Mortal Realm. Fast."

~

Although it took a lot of doubling up and lack of elbow room, the lot of us somehow made it back to Boston and straight to a large house owned by someone the girls called Mike. We all piled out and went inside to find Mike wasn't home, but apparently Anubis was his room mate and let us in.

First thing we did was compare stories while we had something to eat. Kento and I couldn't make any connections from either of our encounters to figure out what Trulpa was going to do with the Jewel of Death or what she was doing with Cye. Cara, who still needed more work on her eyes, said she had heard how they planned to get the Jewel, but Trulpa had only filled the Warlords in on what she was going to do with it. 

Turning our attention back to our new ally, she told us how she lost her vision. Apparently on her wedding day, a Dynasty beast had killed her fiancé and shot poison into her eyes. That was when Trulpa found her and convinced her to join her forces. The pain in her eyes told us how much her husband-to-be had meant to her. 

"I loved Rinji so much, and now he's gone forever," she said. "I'm alone. Cale hated me. He only bothered with me for sex."

We all stared at her in shock. Sara was the one who verbally announced the pretty much universal opinion, however. "That's all he ever did with you for all of your four hundred something years in the Dynasty?! For THAT!?" 

Cara shook her head. "Oh no, only after he was brainwashed. He said he'd hurt me really bad, but, I felt like dirt," she said. She curled up on her corner of the couch. "I don't understand why he did that to me. . ."

"That's probably a side effect of the brainwashing. Cale, in his right mind, even while he was evil, despised using women like that," said Anubis. "For all the times Dais and I got drunk and slept around he went absolutely nuts."

"Anubis and drunk don't seem to fit in the same sentence very well," said Kento, scratching his head.

Sam snorted. "You kidding me? According to Mike, Anubis makes the BEST Mud Slide he's ever had!"

"I do know how to mix a fair amount of cocktails, I will admit," he said, "but none for you kids until you're of proper age. The last thing I need is a drunk Ronin on my hands to make the whole training operation harder than it already it."

"Right, right, lay off the booze, we got it," said Keisha. "Now we have to figure out how we're going to bust Cye out of the Dynasty AND figure out what the heck Trulpa's got up her sleeve."

"As well as get Sage and Cara settled in," said Anubis. "I don't think Mike will mind housing you all, but Cara, you have to prove to us beyond a shadow of a doubt that you've changed."

"You should talk," said Rona.

"I had to do the same thing!" he said, stamping a foot on the ground. "I'm saying this from experience!"

Kento and I exchanged looks, shrugged, and began to attack the popcorn Rona had popped.


	30. Chapter Thirty

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty: Reborn?

(Sam)

We all ended up sleeping over at Mike's house. Sage and Kento slept on either the couch or the futon while the six of us girls were split between two empty bedrooms. Rona and I bunked with Cara, mainly because I wanted to check on her eyes every so often.

Sage and I hadn't been able to fully heal her eyes. She wasn't seeing smudges and blotches of color- she could define shapes- but she said that her eyes hurt every so often. We figured it was eye strain, so that meant glasses. Cara didn't seem to mind that at all, which was probably good. This was better than what she had, any ways.

As far as proving she'd changed, Anubis took her armor orbe and said he was going to hold it for a week as part of her "test". Basically, we still had a shadow of a doubt, and we just wanted to be absolutely sure she was an ally before we did anything too drastic.

Rona, Cara and I spent the night trying to bring peace between at least us. I was pretty sure she'd changed sides for good, and I think Rona was, too, but we were just trying to make friends. Cara seemed to like being with the Senshi. "You girls are so much nicer than Anubra and the others."

"Oh?" I asked.

"They usually just ignored each other. And me. It was so, cold," said Cara. She sighed. "I never like it but I didn't argue. I was angry about what happened and I guess, I guess it was a poor choice."

"Everyone makes mistakes, but we forgive you," said Rona. "What happened to you was very harsh and you wanted healing. You just looked for it in the wrong place. Now let's all get some sleep. Tomorrow we need to figure out how to rescue that last guy, Cye."

"Trulpa did a lot of planning to capture those three in the first place. It won't be an easy rescue," said Cara. She looked at the floor. "How do we do it?"

"You, Kento, and Sage know the Dynasty moderately well," I said. "Surely you could help us find him before Trulpa does something really nasty to him, right?"

"Yes, perhaps. But I don't think Trulpa is going to just throw him in one of the regular dungeons. We'll have to travel deep in her castle if we're going to find him," said Cara, who was looking very serious. "As I said, she worked hard to capture those that she did capture. She isn't going to let them go that easily."

"Don't worry about it. Trulpa's a manipulating wench that needs to be taught a lesson!" said Rona. 

"I'm so glad you put it that way," I said, only half-joking. I turned back to Cara. "You do realize we will be suspicious of you for a while."

"And understand our reasons are pretty darn valid," said Rona. "You were our enemy this morning. It'll take a while before we all accept you as our ally. We will, eventually, but you have to earn out trust."

"Rona!" I said. "You shouldn't-"

"I understand your distrust to the fullest," said Cara. "Let's sleep, then we'll all talk tomorrow morning."

~

The following morning, the lot of us was gathered in the dining room chowing down on pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, and all the other traditional breakfast foods. Cara seemed to enjoy the food, while Sage looked more than pleased with the meal. I didn't blame him. This was the first time he'd really gotten a chance to enjoy a meal as a free man for a long time.

Kento was just. . . stuffing his face.

"Sage, does he always eat like that?" asked Anubis, staring at Kento in awe. "The boy isn't staving by any stretch of the imagination. I mean, SIX waffles? AND three pancakes. AND bacon and eggs?"  
"Yup."

"This is normal?"

"Absolutely."

"Why?"

"I dunno, fast metabolism?"

I shook my head as the monk and the Ronin Warrior of Halo had their, um, discussion. Kento just continued to happily eat. It wasn't like he stuck his head in it and had pancake and maple syrup all over his face, but it was a rather large plate, even for a guy his size.

"So, Kento, are you sure you're not pregnant?" asked Ria.

Kento nearly choked on his waffles as the table suddenly became eerily quiet. All eyes turned to Kento, whose eyes had suddenly dilated to about twice their normal size. "Excuse me!?" he asked. 

Our leader just calmly shrugged as she took another bite of her pancakes. She chewed, swallowed, and continued on as if her question was completely normal. "Hey, pregnant women eat a lot, so I was just wondering," said Ria.

"One, I'm a guy- I don't have of the mechanics needed to CARRY a child. Two, I've never had sex in my entire life," he said. As an afterthought, he cleared his throat and began again. "No offense to any one who might have. Three, I think your mind is in the gutter, Ria."

"We all know that," I said, rolling my eyes. Then, I got an idea. Maybe I could push the joke out just a LITTLE bit further and really get him mad. "You know, in theory, if he was a hermaphrodite-"

"Let's leave the conversation where it is and NOT go any further," said Sage.

"What's a hermaphrodite?" asked Cara.

"I'll explain later," I said, holding back a laugh. Kento looked REALLY offended and shot me a hurt look. "Sorry, I'm as bad as Ria sometimes on saying what's on my mind."

"And BOY does she have some interesting thoughts," said Sara.

The sound of a door opening and closing soon came into the kitchen. "Mike and Sue Lee are finally home. Where'd they go, anyways?" asked Rona, neatly slicing up more of her waffles.

"Some overnight field trip," said Anubis. As if on cue, Sue Lee darted in, hugged Anubis, and when she saw me and Rona, made a huge fuss. She hadn't even noticed Sage or Cara yet. Sage smiled as Sue Lee's excited demeanor and sighed heavily. 

"Reminds you of Yuli, huh?" asked Kento.

"Oh yeah," said Sage. "She's got the same energy he has."

After Sue Lee finally noticed Sage and started asking if he was my twin brother (Kento nearly spit his orange juice clear across the table after that one), I noticed Cara staring at Mike oddly. Mike had a strange look on his face as well.

"Um, hi," he said.

"Uh, hello," said Cara nervously. All eyes were now on Mike for his answer. 

"Have we met before?" he asked. Our heads turned back to Cara. 

"Rinji?" she asked. We turned back to Mike. He looked absolutely dumbfounded. 

"That name. . . it sounds familiar but, I know I've never heard it before. And I know I feel like I've known you for a long time," he said.

I tapped Rona's shoulder. "Wasn't Rinji the name of Cara's fiancé? The one that got killed?" I whispered.

"I think so. This is weird," said Rona. 

"Um, Mike, this is Cara. I have no idea why she's mistaken you for Rinji but-" started Anubis.

"Now I know where I've seen you! Ever since I was in junior high I kept having the same dream about you, but it was in some sort of an oriental village. You were wearing this white, fancy kimono and we were sitting in the woods. But the dream always ended when this ugly lizard thing-"

"-pounced on you and ended things," she said. "Oh Rinji, you've been reborn!"

"Reborn?" asked Mike. Before he knew it Cara was hugging him, her face buried in his chest. Mike had a completely bewildered look on his face. Anubis looked almost embarrassed. Kento coughed and excused himself to go out back. Sage followed. 

"I'd say things just got a little more interesting," said Ria.

~

After Cara and Mike sat down for a while, Mike began to remember bits and pieces from his past life as Rinji. But even as the rest of us eavesdropped-err, spied- err, um, checked on them, we could tell that Mike was beginning to remember the old emotions too.

"Think it's real?" asked Sara.

"He's mentioned this dream to me before. It is," said Anubis. 

"This is so sickeningly sweet, I think that I'm either going to cry or hurl," said Kento.

Keisha shot him a look and he flushed, a little embarrassed. Sage snickered, only to get elbowed by the other Ronin Warrior. The rest of us just sighed and left the room.

But I lingered behind. I couldn't help but watch them. Was this what love looked like? All this talking and remembering? It wasn't where the man beat the woman for not doing something right? It wasn't about animalistic love making to produce a dozen children? It wasn't all about kissing and flirting?

"C'mon, Sam, let's leave 'em some privacy."

I turned to see Sage was signaling for me to leave them alone. "Is that what it's like?" I whispered.

"Sometimes," he said. "But what really matters is whether or not Cara loves Mike and Mike loves Cara. If they don't share that, then the relationship has no point."

I nodded. "My parents were never like that."

"There was no love in that relationship, Sam," said Sage. "You'll find it someday. Someday some lucky guy will sweep you off your feet and you'll understand that you shouldn't fear for your life if you ever marry." He then took my hand, kissed it, and walked away, leaving me dumbfounded, confused, and unsure of why my stomach was suddenly full of butterflies. I stole one last glance at Mike and Cara, then saw that Kento was attacking the last of the Cape Cod Potato Chips and went to defend to my snack.


	31. Chapter Thirty-One

The Jewel of Death

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-One: A Very Strange Reunion

(Cara)

Ever since I lost Rinji, I thought that joining Trulpa in the evil Dynasty would fill the void that had suddenly been ripped into my heart. I was broken, weak, and scared. I didn't know what to do with myself, and Trulpa had offered me a very tempting deal.

For the next several hundred years I made sort-of friends with the other Warladies. I also made a great friend in Cale, before he was brainwashed and Talpa and Trulpa broke off their alliance. On occasion we'd have tea together or go horseback riding. Cale and Trulpa were the only people I let know about my blindness.

When he became brainwashed, shortly after the three Ronins were captured, he changed. At first I was excited he was on our side again, until he forced me to let him have his way with me. At first I wasn't sure what he meant, but the force he used on me made it evident I had to hand over my virginity or else. It hurt. Not just the pain from the sex, but it hurt to know my friend had drastically changed from a person I could talk to into a brutal monster.

I began to resent both Sage and Sam for the reasons they suggested: they had control over something that had been taken away from me. Light. Seeing things. I was completely in the dark, and I was frightened. They were right: the darkness means nothing without the light to compliment it.

When I finally realized Trulpa wanted nothing more than destruction, she further damaged my eyes, much to my pain and dismay. I don't remember much more than the pain, blood, and the feeling of the goggles leaving my eyes for the first time in over a century. Sage and Sam tried to talk me down, and soon, I opened my eyes. What I saw was a green and yellow blob that later turned out to be Sage and Sam.

What I see in America is very different from what I remembered in Japan. First, there are many, many more kinds of people here. I have never seen anyone like Keisha, with dark skin and coarse, almost sheep like hair. Rona and her "mocha" skin and big eyes, or Sara with his tanned skin and small complexion. Sage and Sam's blonde hair was also foreign to me at the time.

There's also a wondrous movement in the technology in use. Televisions, radios, CDs, computers, and toasters. I like toasters. They made bread crunchy and dark, although Sage said that it was odd of me to eat black "toast", as they called it. He showed me some "lightly browned" toast, which I agree is much better.

It was nice to see what Anubis actually looks like as well. I'd known him about as long as I've known Cale, and I thought him to be very handsome. As were Sage and Kento. It made me curious what other people looked like, such as the other Warlords, Trulpa, Cye, and even what my own armor looked like. I put it on and looked into an mirror. It was weird, in a way.

I've also been given glasses, which the Senshi tells me will improve my vision. Even with Sage and Sam's healing abilities, there was only so much that they could do to save my vision. I did not mind the glasses, at least I could see something!

But the thing I really liked was being reunited with Rinji. He'd been reborn into the body and soul of Mike. His personality and appearance have stayed relatively the same, but the old feelings have died with his rebirth over time. He says he remembers a few things, but nothing has sparked any emotion yet. But we will try to pursue a relationship. I vowed to him once I'd wait a lifetime for him, and here I've waited nearly four lifetimes, possibly five. 

No matter what, I will never, ever stop loving him. . .

(Mike)

Words cannot describe what it's like to go your whole like thinking you know who you are and suddenly learning you aren't quite that person. Yeah, that sounded weird, I know, but then again, my life has been nothing BUT weird ever since five young ladies entered my life and turned it upside-down.

Well, I will admit that it was probably a good thing for Sue Lee to have some positive, female influences in her life. There's only so much I can do as a man to teach her about being a woman. The Senshi have a better idea on where to go with such things, especially Rona, who also grew up without her mother.

The loss of Sue Lee's mother, Miriam, was hard on me. We'd been great friends in high school and college. When I learned that her boyfriend had gotten her pregnant, I'd stayed by her side, even when her own family turned her back on her. I was there for every Lamaze lesson, every doctor's appointment, and I was even there when Sue Lee was born. Miriam even wanted me to sign Sue Lee's birth certificate as her father. But no- I couldn't do that. I'm not her father and I never will be.

The car accident that took her mother's life was hard on us both. Sue Lee was very young at the time and didn't understand why her mother had left, why she wouldn't be coming back, and why she couldn't go with her. She was only three years old at the time, and for a while I balanced my last year of college while taking care of the young girl. My graduation day was a happy occasion for us both, because it meant I could get a REAL job and do something good for us.

When my Aunt Agatha saw an add for some fancy old folk's home and wanted to haul walker, rocker and all to the unit, she gave me and Sue Lee her old mansion. I was estatic over the prospect, despite all that would have to be done to fix the place up. And I will say- it's come a long way since we first moved in. I guess the girls and Anubis helped out a lot there. 

After the Kaze incident, Anubis confided in me what his big secret was. He is, in a way, my best friend, and he knew I would take it in an understanding way. I flipped out at first, but I settled down and let him explain everything. When I asked if the Senshi knew, he told me he was planning on telling them the day after.

But of course that was followed by Rona and Sam running away and all that other really fun stuff. But we know about that.

It's Cara that I REALLY want to talk about.

I mean, when I'm in junior high, I had all these dreams about this purple haired woman in a kimono making all these love-gestures to me, yet I had no idea what they meant. Suddenly I learn that they're a memory of the last moments of my previous life, the woman is/was my fiancé, and immediately after my death she'd joined an evil organization. Yup, really normal day on my part.

Yet even though we had only "met" a few minutes earlier, we were talking like old friends, though, I suppose we ARE old friends. I don't remember much of my previous life, but Cara has been able to make me remember little bits and piece of it. It's so strange having all these extra memories in addition to the ones I already have.

I don't know how things are going to work out now. I know that Cara wants to pursue a relationship, but sometimes, I just don't know. Yes, I'm used to weird things, but this. . . this is almost TOO weird. Maybe as I get to know her better I can pass a better judgment on the whole situation.

Besides, it's kinda cool knowing a girl waited over four hundred years for me. . .


	32. Chapter Thirty-Two

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-Two: Destiny Appears

(Cye)

"Let me go you jerks!" I demanded, struggling against Dais, Sehkment, Cale, and Osiris. The four of them were dragging me (literally) kicking and screaming towards Trulpa's throne room. Eventually Sehkment, who'd been bringing up the rear, grabbed my hair. I cried out as he jerked my head back so he could look at me in the eyes. _I can almost see a difference in his eyes. . . they're beadier and sharper. . ._

"Shut up, Torrent," said Sehkment. He grinned, then laughed in that mechanical way he always had whenever he was up to something REALLY nasty. "Trulpa has a special plan for you."  
"Well you can tell her to go-"

SMACK!

"Don't even say it, boy," said Osiris. I whimpered, not liking the beating I was receiving. Osiris snapped his fingers and I watched as my armor orbe popped into the air above his hand and fell into his palm. He waved it in front of my eyes, teasing me. I didn't bother trying to get it, so turned my head away. I knew that he was just doing it to get a cheap laugh. I wouldn't let him get it. Osiris didn't seem too pleased with that, but I wasn't going to let them get so much as a laugh out of me.

"I hear Trulpa thinks that Torrent is going to be the key to her success against the Ronin Senshi," said Dais. He looked down at me. "But how? He's the runt of the Ronins. He doesn't have Hardrock's strength or Wildfire's wit or Strata and Halo's speed."

"He's a pretty agile little whelp," said Sehkment. "You've never fought him like I'VE fought him. Damned good swimmer- one of the best I've seen in my four hundred something years of existence."

I didn't know what they meant by me being the key to Trulpa defeating my friends, nor did I truly care. I just wanted to get out of there and get back with Kento and Sage. They were all I had now, truth be told. I wasn't sure how Anubis would receive me if I told him what I was, and I was afraid of rejection. All of my life I've wanted a father, and now that I had one. . . I was afraid.

Before long we stood before the large red doors that lead to Trulpa's throne room. Osiris pushed them open and the other three Warlords brought me in and threw me to the floor before Trulpa. I landed on my hands and knees, panting. My body was already aching, and the throw didn't help.

I'd been "lucky" enough to spend the past several weeks since Kaze's end in one of Trulpa's torture chambers. Anubra had happily used her whip against my bare skin (my clothes had been taken away and only returned before my "audience" with Trulpa) and Vanessa occasionally dumped strong acids on my back. I'm pretty sure that took off a few layers of skin. Hell, I was glad I was even alive.

I looked up to see Trulpa sitting like a prima donna on her throne. She sat sideways, wearing a black body suit and a red, knee length skirt. The evil Dynasty Empress I've grown to hate with a burning passion was twirling a strange, black version of the Jewel of Life around her finger. A sly grin played itself onto her blood red lips. Against her vampire pale skin, they were incredibly creepy looking. "Hello, Cye. How nice to see you."

"Really? How NOT nice to see you," I said. I know, pathetic come back, it was the best I could come up with at the time. My head was clouded over with thoughts I just couldn't organize right and I was actually considering hurling I felt so bad.

Trulpa snarled. "No matter. Warlords, you know that my latest plan requires both Torrent and the Jewel of Death," she said. She sat up and crossed one leg over the other as she leaned forward, clasping her hands together. "Do you know why?"

"No." "Not a clue." "Why?" "Does it matter?"

I stared nervously at the jewel in her hand. That must've been the Jewel of Death she spoke up. _It must be some sort of an evil Jewel of Life. And knowing the power of that. . . how powerful is THAT!? _"What are you going to do with that?" I asked. 

"You see, Warlords, I'm sure that all of you, except Osiris, remembers one of Anubis' more prominent drunk antics, roughly seventeen years ago, correct?" she asked, sitting up. I hugged myself, knowing the story she was going to tell me.

"Yeah, he got so drunk he and this woman left the bar. It took us two hours to track them down. By then they'd streaked, had sex, and gotten a tattoo," said Dais. He sighed heavily. "It took us forever to get that horrendous thing off of him. Why is it so important?"

Trulpa stood up and stepped down to where I knelt, reaching for my chin. I tried to lash out, but Sehkment grabbed my arms and held them behind my back. She scratched my chin with one of her long fingernails, my trying to yank my head away from her. I didn't want that woman touching me! "You see, that was the night that our little Cye here was conceived."

Dais gasped, his one eye dilating. "He's Anubis' child?!" he said. "You mean Anubis and the woman conceived that night?! Anubis is a father and his son was on the opposing side?!"

"I thought he looked a little familiar," said Sehkment, looking at me in slight interest. I shook, frightened by the looks. I felt so helpless, so scared. What were they going to do to me, anyways? "So is he bait or what?"

"Not quite," said Trulpa. Her grin grew and my fear increased. She sensed this and laughed. She then turned her attention back to her fingernails, looking them over. "Do you recall that children of armor bearers are, special?"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Dais, raising the eyebrow above his existent eye. "What makes Torrent so special, aside from the fact he's the result of a little accident Anubis had?"

I cringed at the comment, close to tears.

"Cye is the first child born to an armor bearer. No other armor bearer has ever had a child. All died before they did, most in battle. He is what is known as the Child of Destiny. This means he can not only use his own powers, but he can also use some of the Armor of Cruelty's powers."

My eyes widened. I could do that?

The Warlord of Darkness snorted a laugh. "Really? This pathetic excuse for a Ronin Warrior is the Child of Destiny?" asked Cale. "Doesn't look like much if you ask me. What's he gonna do, huh? He doesn't know how to USE any of his FATHER'S powers, now does he?"

"As he is the Child of Destiny, I can use him for my own uses," said Trulpa.

"I'm not going to do it, whatever it is. I know that Kento and Sage escaped. I know Cara has left your services. I won't do anything you say," I said. "I heard Dais talking all about it."

"I told you not to talk to Sehkment about that outside of the torture chamber!" said Osiris, yelling at Dais. The Warlord of Illusion recoiled at the sudden snap. "THIS is the very reason why!"

"Oh shut up, we'll find a way to get him to do what we want," said Cale.

"I know you won't work for me without a little, magical persuasion," said Trulpa. She then took the Jewel of Death and grasped it in her hand. "One of you hand me his armor orbe." Osiris tossed it over. She caught it and kept her attention on the blonde Dark Warlord. "Osiris, I also need some sort of an element from your armor. Preferably a weapon of some sort."

"What are you doing?" I asked. Osiris produced a whip very similar to the one Anubra used in addition to her chain and sickle. "Haven't I been whipped enough already!?"

As I expected, she pretty much ignored my comment. "Excellent," said Trulpa. She laid my armor orbe and the whip on the ground before me. She held up the Jewel of Death and began to chant something in an ancient tongue I didn't understand. As she spoke I began to feel sick. I watched helplessly as my armor orbe and the whip lifted into the air, levitating before the jewel. Trulpa snickered. The Jewel of Death began to glow and I screamed.


	33. Chapter Thirty-Three

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-Three: An Interesting Predicament

(Sara)

__

Step by step 

Heart to heart 

Left right left 

We all fall down, like toy soldiers 

Being in the Ronin Senshi has changed me. I used to see the world in a more naïve light than I do today. Now a days the world seems so much different, although it hasn't changed much. Skyscrapers still tower over major cities like Boston and New York. People still hustle and bustle on their way to work. Children still play outside with their pets and friends.

__

It wasn't my intention to mislead you 

It never should have been this way 

What can I say? 

I tried to show my friends that despite my size I could be a tough cookie, which I am. I don't act like a "little mouse", as the Warladies sometimes called me, I act more like a "little psychotic killer". If there is such a thing as a little psychotic killer.

I stood on the roof of the Prudential building, one of the tallest skyscrapers in Boston. It took some sneaking to get up there, but I did. Sometimes I go up there to think and be by myself. Now that I have all sorts of neat powers, I don't have to go to my room to be myself- it's not a good place, anyways. My brother and sister are always intruding in on me, whether it's just to ask a question or be a general nuisance.

Normally they're just being a nuisance.

__

It's true, I did extend the invitation 

I never knew how long you'd stay 

When you hear temptation call 

It's your heart that takes, takes a fall 

Won't you come out and play with me?

But my main thoughts that day were on a boy I hadn't even met. The Ronin Warrior of Torrent. Cye. I wondered what he was like. Was he nice? Was he short like me? Did he and I share interests because of our armor powers? And was he cute? 

THAT naturally started when Rona and Sam took off after getting mad at Anubis. Ria and I, despite Keisha's jealously, went to go see a fortune teller. I took one look at the Chinese teenager and thought to myself, yeah right. But then he started guessing our names and other little things and I started to wonder. The name Kento that he gave us didn't mean anything until Anubis mentioned that he thought one of them was in town and I slipped the name. After that I knew him as not only a talented fortune teller, but also as a warrior, a mage, an ally, and a friend.

Sage was different. The blonde boy who has begun to win over Sam's heart had a much more, angelic, air about him. Fair features, a light step, a quiet but stern voice, angelic is the best word I know to describe the guy. He's also a bit sharper that Kento is. Not to say Kento's stupid, he's just not as accustomed to American culture as the Warrior of Halo appears to be. 

I'd seen both Sam and Keisha begin to develop feelings for Sage and Kento respectively, Keisha and Kento being slightly obvious, Sage and Sam's taking a little time to think. Would something like that happen between me and Cye once we got him out of the Dynasty?

__

Step by step 

Heart to heart 

Left right left 

We all fall down, like toy soldiers 

I played with my hair. What if the mission failed? What if we were killed or captured? Or worse, if that was possible? Then what would become of the Mortal Realm? I didn't want to think about it. We weren't like video game characters or action figures that could easily be replaced. When it came to Game Over, it was REALLY Game Over. There would be no reset button to bail us out.

"What kind of people have we become?" I said aloud. I knew I wasn't going to get a response. I was alone, after all. "Are we pawns in some sort of a metaphorical giant game of chess? Or are we still controlling our destinies?"

I wasn't always thrilled with the idea we had no choice in our destiny. We all accepted it, but did we choose what to do with it? Could we choose which bend in the river to go down? Could we choose the mountains or the sea? Black or white? Or was everything already predetermined? 

__

Bit by bit 

Torn apart 

We never win 

But the battle wages on for toy soldiers

But then someone else would somehow be able to step in. The Ancient must've have had some sort of a set-up for back-up heirs, didn't he? I didn't want to die, there's much I have yet to do. I still want to graduate high school and get married and raise a family, but could I still do all that? What would a possible spouse think about it?

I laughed. If the pattern we'd noticed continued and we all ended up with our respective partners in arms it wouldn't seem so tough to talk about it. And besides, it's not written anywhere we have to fall in love with our respective Warriors. And I liked that freedom. It didn't matter to me either way if I ended up falling in love with him. Love is love. As long as deep down in my heart I know it's love and not my hormones or my armor, then I'm cool with it. 

__

It's getting hard to wake up in the morning 

My head is spinning constantly 

How can it be 

I felt uneasy about the whole thing, though. I mean, some poor guy had been in Trulpa's clutches for a year. Heck, three of them, and two had escaped. I could only imagine the feelings of fear and loneliness going through his head. Being captive by a demon like Trulpa with friends is one thing, but alone?

I hoped he was okay. But not just for reasons that I wanted to meet him. Because I could tell that Sage, Kento, and Anubis- especially Kento- were very concerned about him. Kento and Cye had been best friends most of there teenage lives, why wouldn't he be worried? Sage said they were like brothers. 

__

How could I be so blind to this addiction? 

If I don't stop the next one's gonna be me 

Only emptiness remains 

It replaces all, all the pain 

Then there were our separate families. My family was mixed with emotions. My little sister, Emily, always joked about my "Torrent in Shining Mystical Armor", for one. My mother thought it was romantic. Trevor was just. . . Trevor. Then my father was tense about the situation, mumbling things about some strange boy taking one of his little girls away. I would laugh, but it must have been bothering him. 

Truth be told, I really didn't care all that much. . .

Won't you come out and play with me?


	34. Chapter Thirty-Four

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-Four: Shocking Encounter

(Sara)

A few hours later I had to meet the others at Mike's place so we could eat at some fancy restaurant that Anubis had arranged for a private booth at. Our group had grown considerably, which was probably good. We had all the Senshi, two Ronin Warriors, and a former Warlady. Plus we could grow another Ronin Warrior. 

The only bad thing was that I was running late. 

I fought through the crowd at the mall to try and get to the door and get out. I kept getting shoved aside and then yelled at for bumping into people, even though I'd been pushed. It was a huge relief once I was outside and back on the sidewalk. I was beginning to feel trapped. 

I started heading towards our meeting place. I began thinking about what I might order, since I'm not big on steaks and all that fancy stuff. If they had salad I'd buy that. Might be the only thing I would eat. Maybe part of the reason I'm so short is because I'm such a picky eater.

Suddenly I got an eerie feeling and froze. Something dark seemed to be crawling up my spine, haunting me. I ducked into an alley way to avoid getting bumped into. "What is this presence?" I asked. 

"So glad to finally meet you my precious little Senshi."

I turned around and gasped. Behind me stood a teenage boy only a few inches taller than me and slightly older, but only, well, different. His clothing was something you'd see out of a movie like _Conan_ or _Gladiator_. Only it was light blue and yellow with dark brown in some places, mainly his boots. On his belt hung a fierce, black leather whip and I could see the tip of a spear behind his back. His hair was weird, too. It was a soft auburn color with tufts of yellow and blue swirls. It was also a little un-kept. But what really caught me were his blood red eyes. 

He grinned knowingly at me. My armor reacted, but I could somehow sense it as "confused". There was a strange mix of senses that my armor was sending off. I had no idea what they were, though. Was this strange boy friend or foe? "You know you should have no reason to fear me, Sara," he said. He began to slowly walk towards me, a strange, black jewel hanging from a cord around his neck flashing and hurting my eyes. I winced, turning away.

I heard a low, almost echoed chuckle, and warm breath on my neck. Whoever this was had taken no second thought on getting a little up close and personal. My eyes widened in shock. Who WAS this guy?! "Who are you?"

"You, my dear, know me as Destiny," he said, bowing in an almost mocking way. As he stood back up, I saw a dark grin on his face. "But, you see, I was once known as Cye of the Torrent."

I froze. Slowly turning, I looked at him, staring into those eyes. How, how could this be?! "No," I said. I narrowed my eyes. "You're not evil! You're an impostor!"

"Oh, but yes I am," he said, grinning evilly. "I am no impostor. Trulpa has. . . shown me the unimaginable wealth and power of the Dynasty."

My eyes widened. "You must have been brainwashed!" I said. "The Cye that Anubis, Kento, and Sage talk about is nothing like the evil being I see before me!"

Cye laughed. "That Cye? The weak, pathetic Ronin Warrior of Torrent? The runt of the litter? The quiet, nervous little puppy? No, that Cye is gone. Instead, I am here to take his place." The black jewel around his neck glistened. I shielded my eyes.

"The Jewel of Death. . ." I said slowly. "That's what Trulpa's used to corrupt you!"

"Maybe so, maybe so, but what truly matters is that unless you choose to join me in the Dynasty, you will perish," he said. "All of the Senshi have this option. Think about it. Never having to fear death. Never having to go to school. Having the power over an entire world!"

"Trulpa wants to destroy this world," I said. "I could never bow before her!"

Cye grinned. "Then perhaps there is no choice but to have you exterminated."

I backed away and took a fighting stance. "I don't care if you're my partner in arms! You're threatening the realm I've sworn to protect, and if I must destroy you, then so be it."

"Well, I don't feel like a fight right this moment. I want you to sweat it out, little mouse," he said. He then threw something down, causing a somewhat loud bang and a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Cye was gone.

~

"Cye's been brainwashed?" Kento asked, almost in disbelief. I had gotten to Mike's place, where the other Senshi, Cara, Anubis, Kento, and Sage were gathered. Even Tiger Lily was there, sitting on the carpeted floor (why Mike didn't mind this is beyond me). They had been waiting for me so we could get to the restaurant. 

"I know what I saw, and he even said that he had once been Cye of the Torrent," I said. I lowered my head. "But I thought Torrent's couldn't be possessed! And he's a Torrent just like me! How is this possible?!"

"They can't be possessed by Nether Spirits," said Anubis. He frowned grimly. "But they most certainly CAN be brainwashed, especially by a powerful talisman like the Jewel of Death."

"How do we break the spell?" asked Sage. His eyes were littered with worry, his forehead furrowed with lines of worry. "We can't just go up to him and take the Jewel of Death off."

"Between the three of us that wee captured, Cye's the fastest and most agile. I'm the strong, good in a fight Ronin. Sage is the smart one that always tries to come up with a plan and kicks butt with his big sword. But Cye's the quiet, shy one who's really good at dodging enemies," said Kento. "The only person who might've matched his agility was Rowen, but we can't talk to him or Ryo."

"I'm fast," said Keisha, raising her hand.

Sage crossed one of his legs over the other knee. "Rowen is of the Strata. He has the added bonus of flying. Rona, yeah, you can fly, but you can't go NEARLY as fast as Rowen or Cye."

"Sara might stand a chance," said Cara. All eyes turned to her. "Agility is a major trait in most Torrents. I'll agree her attitude is different from the ones I've encountered, but she does have that potential."

Sam, who usually would have made a smart remark by now, had sat quietly thinking. "Something's been bothering me for a while, and I think that you might've hit something, Sara," she said.

"What do you mean?" asked Rona.

"Well, when Kaze attacked us, he had four different kinds of attacks: earth, lightning, water, and something else," she said.

Kento and Sage exchanged glances. "Huh?"

"There was a fourth power source!" said Ria, standing up. Kento and Sage looked at her in confusion. "I don't know WHAT it was, but I think Sam might be getting on to something."

Sam smiled. "Well, Sara said that Cye had blue and yellow highlights in his hair in addition to his funky to his whacked out ensemble. The blue makes sense, but the yellow?" she said.

"And the whip you told us about," said Keisha. "Where did that come from?"

Anubis raised an eyebrow. "Yellow is the armor color of the Spring armors, better known as Cruelty. And the whip is the Senshi magic side weapon, like Sara's knife or Ria's throwing stars."

"Describe this fourth power to us," said Sage, looking interested.

"It was. . . I don't know, kind of like a lightning attack but it felt like these beams of energy were trying to choke us," said Rona. "It didn't feel as if it came from any sort of element I've ever encountered."

"That sounds like the Armor of Cruelty's powers, but why the heck was it with Kaze?" asked Kento. He groaned in frustration as he started to rub his temples. "And why does Cye have insignia FROM the Armor of Cruelty?"

"This is strange," said Cara. "We should look into it a little more."

"How?" asked Ria. "Got any ideas?"

"Well, I can't fight since I still haven't fully passed my tests, but you could TRY waiting for him," she said. Cara cocked her head to the side, pushing her glasses up. The deep maroon frames and circular lenses made her look sort of like a business woman. "Try and call him out."

"How do we know she isn't setting us up for a trap?" said Ria. She turned to the former Warlady. "Sorry, Cara, but you WERE our enemy just a few days ago. We still aren't sure how much we can trust you yet."

"Well, we'll have all the Senshi, two Ronin Warriors, the Ancient's Staff, and perhaps even Snap Dragon," said Anubis.

"What's that?" asked Ria.

"I think I know this. Snap Dragon was an armor designed for a tiger. It was given to a tiger named Snap Dragon. Let me guess: Tiger Lily and Snap Dragon combined their souls like White Blaze and Black Blaze did, right?" asked Sage.

"Right," said Anubis. "But so far she hasn't done much, I'm afraid."

"She will, won't you, girl?" said Ria, scratching behind the tiger's ears. Tger Lily purred. "We will free him. I know we can."


	35. Chapter Thirty-Five

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-Five: Major Revelation

(Anubis)

We took Cara's advice and waited for Cye to come and challenge us. Rona chose a spot far away from civilization so that no civilians would get hurt in what could be a potentially dangerous battle. Tiger Lily also waited with us, sitting by Ria. 

Kento and Sage were sparring, practicing kicks and punches on each other. I noticed the two of them seemed so much different from the year before. Being Trulpa's prisoners had certainly taken a toll on the two young men. The boomerang and pair of nunchaku they both had snapped onto their subarmor was proof. They'd been changed forever. Their lives would never be the same again.

Ria, Rona, Keisha, and Sam were all doing their usual preps of stretching, letting a few practice kicks into the air, and occasionally sparring. Keisha and Sam occasionally stole a glance Kento and Sage's way, but aside from that the four of them seemed perfectly normal as Tiger Lily watched them.

It was Sara I was worried about. Normally, she too would be sparring and preparing for the fight. Instead her large, pink eyes were gazing skywards. I frowned. Poor girl wasn't sure what to think of the whole situation. The one who was supposed to be one of her closest friends and if worse came to worst protector, was now the enemy. 

I was sure Cara felt similar to that. Cale had been awful to her since being brainwashed. Before, I recall them being moderately good friends, but nothing intimate. Usually having tea together or something not too visual, considering she'd been blind. Speaking of whom, Cara was back in town with Mike and Sue Lee, me with her armor orbe in my tan satchel.

As for me, I was bewildered. Why were there so many strange connections to my old armor? I couldn't see Osiris playing a hand in it, so why was the fourth power related to that armor? Why did Cye carry a whip and why did he have yellow streaks of hair? It just didn't make any sense.

"Well if THIS isn't interesting I don't know what is!"

"Cye!" cried Kento. We looked up to see the now brainwashed Ronin standing on top of a tree. Sure enough, he matched Sara's bizarre description to a tee. I couldn't believe that this was the kind-hearted Ronin Warrior I'd known only a year before. "Cye, fight it!"

"Why should I?" said Cye, jumping down, doing a flip, and landing on his feet. He placed his hands on his hips and stared us all down. "You do realize Trulpa will STILL accept the Senshi into her Dynasty. Even you and Sage have that opportunity. Only Cara and **Anubis** will have to suffer the consequences." When he said my name, he said it, differently, like he was almost teasing me.

Sage began to walk towards the smaller of the Ronins. "Cye, what's wrong with you? What has Trulpa done to you?" he asked. "This isn't like you. And I don't think anyone here likes it."

Cye laughed. "She has done nothing to me except shown me her ways."

"And put you on some sort of a weird power-drug," said Kento.

"I was born with both the Torrent and Cruelty powers, you ignoramus," said Cye, sending a cold glare Kento's way. "This is something that probably would've happened anyways, so just deal with it."

My eyes widened. "How is that possible!?"

I heard an all-too familiar laughter echoing through the trees. "Trulpa! Show yourself!" I demanded. Trulpa obeyed, materializing behind Cye. She placed a hand on his shoulder, then grinned darkly.

"Hello, Anubis. Lovely surprise?" she said.

"What have you done with him!?" demanded Sage. Both of the young Ronin Warriors stood at the ready. I wasn't sure if they were preparing to cast a spell or call up their armors. The girls looked prepared as well, except for Sara, who had hesitated to draw her dagger. I held the Staff at bay, eyeing down the evil empress.

"Pathetic," said Trulpa. "Don't you see you can't stop me now?"

"We know you have Talpa's powers, but we can still defeat you!" said Ria. "We've got help, right, gentlemen?" She turned her eyes to Kento and Sage, both of whom nodded.

Trulpa laughed evilly. "Oh, that's not ALL I have, my dear little Senshi," she said. She turned to me, narrowing her eyes in a teasing way as he grin grew. "Anubis, maybe I ask you a question?"

"What do you want, you old weather wind bag?" I snapped. Several of the Senshi (I'm not sure which ones) gave cheers of agreement. Whatever that Dynasty leech wanted, I was sure it was going to end up being bad. 

"Ooo, touchy, touchy," said Trulpa, shaking her finger. "I know that you and Dais have a history of getting drunk and on occasion not remembering a thing of what you did. According to Sehkment and Cale you've done everything from sleep around to getting arrested."

"I didn't know he had it in him," mumbled Sam.

Trulpa ignored Sam and continued on. "And you went to many different countries to do this. Italy, France, Russia, England? You've been on almost every continent on this pathetic planet with the other three."

"He's been around," said Kento, looking back at me in amazement.

"What does this have to do with anything?" I asked, slightly embarrassed. Getting drunk and not remembering what I did while I was drunk wasn't exactly flattering. It was VERY humiliating. "I don't know what you're getting at, Trulpa. I've put all that behind me. I serve the Ancient One now and I don't get drunk anymore."

"Yeah, now he gets his highs off of Orange Julius and French fries. It's the American way!" said Ria, throwing a fist high into the air.

The demon empress ignored Ria's comment (as did most of us- she really needs to know when to keep that mouth of hers SHUT). "You know the tale of the Child of Destiny, correct?" said Trulpa.

"Yeah. Anubis told us about that," said Rona, cutting into the conversation. "The Child of Destiny is the first child born to one of the armor bearers, either male or female. But none of the armor bearers have HAD children yet, so there can't be one!"

Trulpa grinned smugly. "Not until sixteen years ago."

"What!?" I asked. "The Child of Destiny has been born!? But who? How!?"

"Anubis, Anubis, Anubis, why do you think I brought up those late night rendezvous of yours?" said Trulpa. She started to gently scratch the side of Cye's neck. As she did so, it slowly dawned on me what she getting at. Why my drunken escapades had been brought up. "Cye here was conceived one of those nights."

I froze. The battlefield was silent. The girls stared at me, unsure what to think. Kento and Sage kept looking back and fourth between each other, Cye, and me. I just stared at Cye in disbelief. Could she be telling the truth? Was Cye REALLY my son? My child? My flesh and blood?

"Cye is the Child of Destiny?" Sage squeaked, finally breaking the silence. Then he fumed. "That's why you singled him out when you found out Anubis was alive again! Kamusa found out Cye's parentage and you got angry!"

"Then that big secret he was keeping from us was that! You told him and made him hold it in!" said Kento. Both he and Sage looked BEYOND angry. I have no idea how they held themselves back.

Trulpa laughed, pleased with herself. "I thought it was amusing, but when I realized the amount of power that he has at his whim, I decided to make use of it," she said. "And now I have him under my control."

"Then why did you create Kaze is you were just going to use him as the Child of Destiny anyways?" asked Ria. 

"That was actually my original intention, you see. A tri-mutantal with four power sources was an incredible opportunity, I couldn't refuse it," said Trulpa. "This has proven to be the better deal, however. With the added power of the Jewel of Death, Cye easily matches and exceeds Kaze's powers."

"Oh my God," said Sage. 

"Let him go!" Sara cried out.

"How about no?" said Trulpa. "Cye, we will return to the Dynasty to plan the next assault on these little rebels."

"Wait! Don't go! Cye! Fight it!" Kento yelled. "I know you can hear me! Please, try and fight the spell Trulpa's cast on you!"

Trulpa laughed as the two vanished in a burst of smoke. I fell to my knees, still staring ahead in disbelief. The Child of Destiny had been born, and he was MY son. I wasn't sure WHAT to think.

"Anubis, we've got to get back to Mike's a find a way to rescue Cye," said Kento. I hadn't noticed the strongest of the Ronin Warriors at my side until he spoke up.

"My son. . ." I said. 

"He's gone into shock," said Sage. "Kento, pick him up and get him back to Mike's. I don't know what we're going to do next."

"My son. . ."


	36. Chapter Thirty-Six

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-Six: Prisoner

(Cye)

I hated what was happening to me. Trulpa was using me for a power I'd been rightfully given at birth. The empress was controlling me like a puppet, and there was no way I could stop her. 

The ceremony Trulpa had conducted combined my armor orbe and the Jewel of Death into one talisman. The Jewel of Death was the stronger of the talisman and overruled my armor, taking complete control of me. But I was still aware of what was going on around me. I could still see through my eyes and hear what was being said, but I couldn't speak, control my body, or fight the force controlling me.

After Trulpa had me dressed in this weird outfit that is best described as what you might get if you put Hercules and any Native American movie into a blender. Personally I hated the ensemble, but the Jewel of Death forced me to say that I liked it. 

I wanted to hurl.

Being controlled by the Jewel of Death was a nightmare. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't gain even the slightest resistance to the evil powers of the talisman. For a day or so I was a puppet, doing what the Jewel of Death wanted me to do. I wanted to cry, I wanted to get control back, but I couldn't. Nothing helped.

Finally, Trulpa sent "me" on a mission to the Mortal Realm. Even though it was against my will, I went.

~

Boston was a nice city. Busy, but not as big or busy as Tokyo. In a way it was a lot like Toyama. But the Jewel of Death had evil intentions for the city and the people living there. Especially a certain five Ronin Senshi, two Ronin Warriors, ex Warlady, and monk. My father. . . 

From my hiding spot in the ally, I watched several pedestrians talking about sports, television, business, and the normal everyday small talk. American culture was so different from what I was used to in England, Japan, and even the Dynasty. My mind was fascinated.

Eventually I saw the Torrent of the Senshi. My heart nearly leapt into my throat. Long, sapphire blue hair cascaded over her shoulders. She wore a tight, baby-blue T-shirt, a denim skirt, and blue high-tops. Her large, pink eyes seemed almost distant as she got lost in thought. Her skin was a light tan in color, and she looked like she might've been Hawaiian, but I wasn't sure. 

Eventually, she sensed me. She looked around nervously before quickly ducking into the ally that "I" had chosen to hide in. _Oh no, _I thought. _I don't want to hurt her._

"What is this presence?" she asked.

I was forced to chuckle and speak. "So glad to finally meet you my precious little Senshi." My partner in arms turned to see me and stared at me in wonderment. After a short while I spoke again. "You know you should have no reason to fear me, Sara," I said. Slowly I began to walk towards her, causing her to wince. My body took this opportunity to get up close to her. She jumped away as she felt my warm breath on her soft skin.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"You, my dear, know me as Destiny," I said. "But I was once known as Cye of the Torrent."

She froze, staring at me through those large, innocent pink eyes. "No," she said in disbelief. "You're not evil! You're an impostor!" Her finger was pointed accusingly at me, shaking as she did.

_I wish I were an impostor. . . _I thought miserably.

"Oh, but yes I am," I said, grinning evilly. "I am no impostor. Trulpa has. . . shown me the unimaginable wealth and power of the Dynasty."

"You must have been brainwashed!" she said. "The Cye that Anubis, Kento, and Sage talk about is nothing like the evil being I see before me!"

I laughed, throwing my head back. "That Cye? The weak, pathetic Ronin Warrior of Torrent? The runt of the litter? The quiet, nervous little puppy? No, that Cye is gone. Instead, I am here to take his place." My mind mentally winced. That wasn't entirely true!

"The Jewel of Death. . . That's what Trulpa's used to corrupt you!" said Sara, looking almost concerned. It made me feel a little better- knowing she was concerned and all- but she had to figure out a way to get that accursed talisman off of me!

"Maybe so, maybe so, but what truly matters is that unless you choose to join me in the Dynasty, you will perish. All of the Senshi have this option. Think about it. Never having to fear death. Never having to go to school. Having the power over an entire world!" I said, trying to make it look good. In reality I was ready to hurl.

"Trulpa wants to destroy this world. I could never bow before her!"

"Then perhaps there is no choice but to have you exterminated."

"I don't care if you're my partner in arms! You're threatening the realm I've sworn to protect, and if I must destroy you, then so be it." Sara looked like she was trying to be defiant, but I could see she wasn't so sure of herself.

"Well, I don't feel like a fight right this moment. I want you to sweat it out, little mouse." With that, I threw down a smoke bomb and went back into the Dynasty.

~

Later that day, I was sent on the mission to reveal myself to all of them the WHOLE truth, although Trulpa ended up backing me up. Mentally I was in tears as I watched Anubis- my father- stare at me in disbelief once he knew the truth. Sage and Kento were just in shock. I'm not sure what the other four Senshi thought, but I could see pain and hurt in Sara's eyes.

I wanted to badly to apologize to all of them. I wanted to let them know I was still alive inside, that the Jewel of Death hadn't completely taken over. I wanted to escape from my body and help them defeat Trulpa! But here I was doing the exact opposite.

That night was a difficult one. Trulpa removed the Jewel of Death from my neck, explaining that my body would be useless if it were left on too long, and had me locked away in my old room. I liked having control of my body back. It was better than having the Jewel of Death control me, that was for sure! But I could tell I was still cursed when I looked into the mirror.

In a way I looked like my old self. Same face shape, same hair cut, the basics. But my eyes were a demonic red that I could hardly bear to look at and deep streaks of blue and yellow were mixed in with my auburn locks. I sat down before the mirror, folding my arms on the desk and resting my head on my wrists. Tears streaked down my cheeks.

"I'm a monster. I, I'm never going to be the same again!" I said, this time fully breaking down. The tears kept coming and coming, not letting up until I drifted into an all but easy sleep.

~

The following morning I awoke to find myself standing up. Trulpa must have placed the Jewel around my neck while I was mentally asleep. So it was BACK to feeling miserable as my body either walked or teleported around the Dynasty with me as its unwilling passenger. 

When was this ever going to end?

~

Hello loyal readers! I see that many of you have left questions in the reviews for this story, so I'm going to answer some of them:

Kar-chan: The reason that this story is updated so quickly is because it and four sequels have already been completed. I post so quickly because I'm only editing them to get them to make more sense or fix spelling and grammar errors. And thank you for the compliments on my style!

Musou Misora: Kar-chan had the same question. What about Ryo and Rowen? Sadly, Rowen and Ryo don't get a clue until _Dragonia_, which is about four stories away. If it's any compensation, Rowen is the central character in the next story, _Oh, Lucky Me_. As for the voice Rona was singing with, it was Rowen. Three more of the long distance duets happen in the next story.

Hope I cleared up a few things! Feel free to review at any time if you have any questions, comments, ect. See ya!


	37. Chapter Thirty-Seven

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-Seven: An Unexpected Visit

(Sara)

I couldn't believe it. Trulpa had control over the Child of Destiny. Why hadn't I made the connection when he said "Destiny"? That should've been a dead giveaway! I mean, c'mon, all the insignia from the other armor. . . I felt like such an idiot for not seeing it. 

We went back to tell Mike and Cara the latest development. Anubis went straight to his room and refused to see anyone. "He's depressed," said Cara. "He must be going through some incredible guilt."

"When he was still a Warlord, he fought us. At the very beginning he helped strike some very powerful blows against us. He must feel absolutely awful about trying to kill his own son," said Sage. He looked down at his lap and shook his head. 

"I still can't believe Cye and Anubis are related like that," said Kento. The young seer had a somber look of shock on his face as he spoke the words. Keisha sat next to him, quietly taking his hand and squeezing it. Whether or not he acknowledged it is something I don't know. "I mean, wow."

Ria looked towards the stairs. "It looks like Anubis is going to be out of action until he gets himself together. It's too dangerous to have him out on the field in his current state. He could get hurt or something," she said.

"How could he get hurt?" I asked.

"He's going to refuse to defend against or attack Cye," said Kento, immediately understanding what Ria was talking about. . "I agree with Ria's statement. Give him a few days, then we'll get him back into it."

Sam sighed, crossing her legs. "So, how are we going to free him?" she said. "It can't be as simple as Kaze, that's for sure."

"That was SIMPLE!?" said Keisha. "We nearly got killed!"

"Okay, well, it might end up being simple compared to what we'll end up doing," said Rona. She leaned back into the couch, taking on a thoughtful look. "I'm going to guess that we try a similar strategy. I have one in mind."

"Well let it loose!" said Kento. He smiled. "We're all nose."

"You mean all ears," said Sage. A few of us giggled as Kento turned bright red. Sage seemed mildly embarrassed as well. "Sorry, as you might've guessed his English isn't that great. . ."

Kento sighed. "It's not like I don't try!"

"Well, why doesn't Sara try sending Cye some of her powers so he could get a grip on it and try to take control back? Something like that could possibly blow up the Jewel of Death, destroying it," said Rona, changing the subject.

"Maybe, but we don't know what Trulpa did with that thing. She could have done some sort of a weird soul-mixing thing, so we can't do something that abrupt," said Sage. "First we need to figure out how she's controlling him."

Ria sighed. "Let's all sleep on it. Go home, get a good nights sleep and get back here tomorrow morning," she said. We all nodded and said our good nights before about half of us actually left.

~

That night I was almost scared to go to sleep. I was bothered by what had happened, and I wasn't sure how I was going to sleep. We were up against something very, very dangerous that none of us understood.

"Sara?"

I looked over to see my little sister, Emily, had come into my room. She crawled up onto my bed and sat at the foot. I stared at her almost emptily. "Emily, it's late, you should be in bed."

"You're bothered by what happened to your partner in arms," she said. Emily smiled, her young naiveté reminding me of what I once was . "Don't worry, you'll rescue him and then you'll both fall in love with each other like Sam and Keisha did with their partners in arms. And then you'll all go and get married and have lots of kids and-"

I blushed, holding my hands up and laughing slightly. "Emily, we don't know that happened, and we don't know that WILL happen," I said. "I know that Sam and Keisha both have very nice friendships with Sage and Kento but I don't know about love." _Then again, Kento and Keisha DID kiss. . ._

"I know they did. They way they act around each other is obvious," she said (Emily had seen Sage and Kento when she and Trevor had gone to tell me something at one of our meetings). "It's little flirting."

I lowered my eyes and head. "Well, whatever, I gotta sleep."

"Got you some steamy milk," said Emily. I smiled. Steamy milk was a favorite of mine and Emily's. We put milk in the microwave for a few minutes and it comes out really hot. Mom always got mad because she thought we'd burn ourselves, but we never did, and besides, it worked better than warm milk.

"Thanks," I said. "G'night."

"G'night."

~

Once I was asleep, I found myself in a dream. But it wasn't like any dream I'd ever had before. In my dream, I wore a short blue kimono that barely reached my knees. My feet were bare, but it didn't matter since the ground was soft sand without any rocks or cracked shells. Off to one side was a lush tropical forest, a raging ocean on the other side. Where was I?

"Sara."

I turned and gasped. There, standing before me was Cye of the Torrent. I took a defensive position, then relaxed as I realized he was. . . normal. His hair didn't have the blue and yellow streaks in it, nor were his eyes red. Instead, he had just soft, auburn locks and deep aquamarine eyes. _Wow. . . he is gorgeous. . ._ I thought. I shook my head. Time to ask some questions. "Where are we?"

"I, I'm sorry, I'm not sure how I got here, either," he said shyly.

"I think we're in my dream."

Cye blushed. "Oh." He cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "But, but how is that possible?"

"Does that really matter? Your friends, your. . . father. . . they're all worried about you. Anubis is a wreck!" I said, waving my arms around. "He won't even come out of his room he feels so awful over this.

Cye lowered his head and began to draw circles in the sand with his food. He sighed heavily, looking rather somber and sad. "I, I know, but I can't even struggle against it," he said. "Nothing's worked."

"But why?" I asked, folding my arms as I walked closer to him. Cye looked up at me, blinking his eyes in slight confusion. "I thought the Child of Destiny was supposed to have a lot of power."

Cye sighed heavily. "I know, but I don't know how to work it, plus, Trulpa did something and had the Jewel of Death absorb my armor orbe. Even when she takes the Jewel of Death off and I'm in control of my body, I'm still cursed," he said. Then he looked at me, laughing lightly. "Uh, I guess we never met properly."

"I'm Sara, Torrent of the Senshi," I said, smiling.

"I'm Cye of the Torrent," he said, blushing. I giggled and placed a hand on his cheek. "I feel awful about this."

"It's not your fault," I said. "You can't choose your parents and you can't choose to be born. And about being controlled, Trulpa's a manipulating witch."

"Tell me about it," he said.

I frowned. "Look, what else can you tell me about how Trulpa's controlling you? The more we know the better of a chance we'll have of freeing you."

Cye told me he didn't know anymore. "Why are you all so determined to free me?" he asked.

"Well, we accept you as allies," I said. "Kento and Sage are both really nice guys, and since you're their friend, that makes you our friend, too."

"Right now I'm not," he said miserably.

"You're not the enemy. The Jewel of Death is, and that's what we're fighting. Once we figure out how to separate your armor from that wretched talisman, we'll destroy it or hide it someplace where Trulpa will never find it again. Get it beyond her reaches," I said. "I'm glad you came to me. Now I know what the real Cye is like."

He blushed shyly. "I don't know. . ."

I laughed. "Just try to stay strong. We don't want to free an empty shell," I said. Cye's face paled. "Don't worry, we won't let that happen."

"How do I know that?" he said.

"This is a promise," I said, giving him a small kiss on the cheek. Cye turned bright red and I laughed before I felt myself slip away-

~

"Senshi or not, you got chores, Sara," said the voice of my ever irritating brother, Trevor. I poked my head out of the covers, glared at him, and smacked him with my pillow. "Hey!"

"Trust me," I said, standing up. "You SOOO deserved that."

"What did I do!?" he said. 

"I was having a conversation with my partner in arms and YOU woke me up! He was CUTE!" I said. "You're SOOOOO dead, Trevor!"


	38. Chapter Thirty-Eight

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Getting Anubis Back

(Sara)

Once I got half of my chores done and paid off Emily and Trevor to split the rest (I loose more money that way. . .) I headed straight to Mike's house. This was important! So important I actually took out my bike and hopped on.

Okay, so biking through Boston is anything but fun. Too many pedestrians. And other bikers. I was nearly pushed into the traffic three times, nearly crashed into a baby carriage, and collided with a pizza delivery man. By the time the old woman in the walker started to swear and spit at me I was near tears.

Once I finally did get to Mike's house, only Sage and Kento were in immediate contact. Mike and Cara had gone out early to go grocery shopping while Anubis was still in his little state of shock. Sue Lee was still asleep. The boys in question were huddled over a notepad, several crumpled papers surrounding the two. Neither looked like they'd had much sleep. They did, however, wake up once I filled them in on my dream.

"Cye came to you in your dream?" said Kento. 

"Yes," I said. "He said that Trulpa combined his armor orbe and the Jewel of Death into one unit. And when he isn't wearing the Jewel of Death, he's still under some of its affects."

Kento frowned, his grip on the pencil in his hand so hard I heard a snapping sound. The two halves fell to the ground, barely making so much as a thud as they hit the carpet. "I'm going to skin Trulpa alive for this. This is bad."

"What kind of affects?" asked Sage.

"I'm not sure, I'm assuming it's just that he still looks, demonic," I said. "But he did say he could gain control of his body."

"Well, maybe if we could try and get the Jewel of Death off of him we could at least get him out of Trulpa's hands," said Kento. 

"That sounds like it's the only thing we CAN do," said Sage. "Question is, how?"

"No idea," said Kento. He sighed, looked at the notepad, then slightly raised one of his eyebrows. His gaze averted between me and Sage. "I've got a question. How the heck did Cye appear in Sara's dreams?"

"Huh?" asked Sage. "Well, it probably had to do with the armor link, right?"

"Well then, you try and appear in one of Sam's dreams tonight and I'll try getting into Keisha's head. If it works, then that answers the question, but if not, then Anubis is going to have to come out of withdrawal and explain this one to us," said Kento.

"Should I tell Sam and Keisha?" I asked.

"That could accidentally trigger a psychological switch we don't want triggered, so no, definitely DON'T tell them," said Sage. "I'll call a meeting here tomorrow and we'll find out, okay?"

~

The following day, the other Senshi and I met in Mike's living room. Kento was hunched over the back on the couch, Sage sitting side saddle on the back with his arms folded. "Glad you could all make it," said Halo.

"Well, what's your new development, gentlemen?" asked Ria.

The Ronin Warrior of Hardrock turned his attention to his partner in arms. "Keisha, did you happen to have a dream involving me in any way, shape, or form?" asked Kento.

Keisha shook her head. "Nope, not to my knowledge."

"Sam? Same question," said Sage.

Sam snorted. "Why would I want Fudge Boy in my dreams?"

"Hey!" Kento said, taking obvious offense.

"I didn't mean Kento, I meant ME in your dreams?" asked Sage. "Did you see ME in your dreams? Not Kento, ME. Did you see ME in your dreams last night? And don't worry, everyone, there is a valid point here."

"Well, no," said Sam. She grinned and shrugged. "But there WAS a troupe of dancing trout wearing pink and green tutus. It was actually pretty funny, especially after they started dancing to 'Living La Vida Loca'."

"I, don't want to know," said Sage. He looked over at the rest of us. "Well, we tried an experiment last night. See, Sara claims that Cye spoke to her in one of her dreams. So we decided to try and speak to you two in your dreams."

"It didn't work," said Keisha.

"Obviously, so that produces the question of HOW Cye did that. Is it an affect of the Torrent Armors? The Jewel of Death? The desperation of this situation? Whatever Sara had for dinner a few nights ago?" said Sage.

"No, whenever food speaks to me it's usually curry and at that, usually in Pig Latin," I said. "But I haven't had curry for a few weeks, though. It wouldn't have done it NOW of all times."

"But your mom's curry can last a good long while," said Ria. The other Senshi nodded in agreement, adding in comments of what my mother's curry did to them. Cara asked Mike what curry was.

Kento laughed. "Pig Latin? Ha!"

"So then it looks like Anubis has to come out of his little shell and talk to us, because it looks as if he's the only one who'll have the slightest clue as to what's going on," said Sam.

"Easier said than done," said Sage. He looked up towards the stairs and frowned. "He's a total wreck. What we have seen of him isn't good at all. I don't think I've ever seen ANYONE this depressed, and there were days when the three of us were pretty depressed during our captivities."

"Er, I'll talk to him," I said, standing up. "Anyone going to back me up?"  
"I'll go," said Kento, standing up after me.

~

Anubis' room was unusually dark. The only light came from several candles, all lavender scented. "It's been like this," Kento whispered. I saw Anubis on his bed, lying almost perfectly still. "He hasn't eaten for days. Don't know about the bathroom."

"Let's not go there," I said. "Anubis?"

Our teacher only slightly moved. 

I got fed up. "Anubis? We all know you're upset about Cye being captured. We all know you're shocked because he's your son. Well we can't get him back if you don't get off your lazy ass and help us!" I said, waving my fists around the room. "You're acting like a five year old!"

"You needed help?" said Kento, stepping closer to me. This would turn out to be a bad idea. One of my fists, as it was flailing around, knocked- no, smashed- into his nose. "OW!" His hands flew up to his face.

"So stop slugging around like it's the end of the world and DO SOMETHING! It isn't the end of the world until Trulpa kills each and every one of us and she's FAR from done that!" I said.

Anubis sat up. In the dim light, I could see tears in his teal eyes. "You, you're right, Sara. I can't be sitting here in the dark. I'm just being selfish."

"No, you have a right to be upset, but you have to do something to correct being upset," I said. 

"Can I go downstairs and have Sage fix my nose? I think you broke it," said Kento, whimpering. He shuddered suddenly, making a gagging sound as he did so. "Oh man, I think I taste blood."

"Um, yeah," I said. "Sorry about that."

"Consider it forgiven," said Kento, his voice having a slightly nasal attribute now that I'd broken his nose. "You were in a fit of rage that all vertically challenged women have. My mother's like that." I could hear a slight slip of depression as Kento mentioned the woman who brought him into this world. _He might never see that woman again,_ I thought drearily. "I'll go downstairs now."

"Come on Anubis, we've got some new developments that you'll want to know," I said. 

"Like what?" asked Anubis. I sat down beside him and told him about the dream. "I'm glad he's all right, but dream skipping is a bit unusual."

"Dream skipping?" I asked.

"It's a special psychic ability that few lay claim to. But how did he manage to obtain that?" he said.

"Maybe being the Child of Destiny?" I suggested.

"No, the prophecy would have said something about that. Unless. . . hmm," he said. He went into a three-ring binder he used to store ancient drawings and sketches and flipped through the pages. "A-ha!"

I looked at the page he'd stopped at. "That's the Armor that Kaze wore!" I said. I looked over the black and blue armor carefully."

"This is the Armor of the Soul, as he might have mentioned," he said. "If I'm right then I know where the dream skipping came from!"

"Really?" I said. "Kaze had to do with this?"

"Not Kaze, but the ceremony to gain Kaze. I'll explain it downstairs, this is absolutely huge!"


	39. Chapter Thirty-Nine

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Kaze's Aftermath

(Sara)

I led Anubis downstairs. The group was oddly quiet as he took a seat, the binder in his lap. Everyone looked anxious to know the latest. "Well? Are you okay?" asked Sage.

"I'm fine, Sara slapped some sense into me as well as breaking Kento's nose," said Anubis kind of dryly. 

"We know that," said Sam. "Sage fixed it."

Kento rubbed his nose, smiling. "It's good as new, too!" The others giggled.

"But I figured something out. What Cye did is something known as dream skipping. Dream skipping is a rare magical ability in which you can visit other people in their dreams. The Ancient One could, and sometimes, still can do this."

"Mmm hmm," said the group.

"And it doesn't seem as if he's done it before, from what Sara said."

"Mmm hmm."

Anubis frowned at us. "Stop saying, 'Mmm hmm'. So, since it seems as if he hasn't done this a large number of times, it must be an ability he gained recently. If it had to do with him being the Child of Destiny, I would've found something on that by now, though I will admit there's a lot I don't know."

"So how'd he get that power?" asked Rona, crossing her legs. 

Anubis lifted up the binder and showed the group the drawing of the Armor of the Soul he'd shown me. "That's the armor Kaze was wearing," said Ria.

"I remember seeing Trulpa and Brenamon playing with the helmet of this thing. That's the armor Kaze had?" said Sage.

"Yes," said Anubis. "This is the Armor of the Soul. It goes into a class similar to the Inferna and Inferno's class. It's a mega armor, so to speak, but it can only be activated by those whose souls have been linked and bound together tightly. In order for Kaze to have been able to wear that armor, your souls must have been mixed together in a magical blender, so to speak."

"Magic blender?" said Kento. "Wait, weren't our souls already linked because we're all Ronin Warriors?"

Anubis shook his head. "That's a soul tie, meaning that your souls work together to create something like the Inferno or the Ronin Warriors. The next step up is soul bind- what's happened to the three of you- and it's only topped by the soul mate."

"So then that means that we could activate the Armor of the Soul?" said Sage. "But isn't it evil?"

"What part of 'no armor is good or evil' do you kids not understand!?" said Anubis. "Kaze was evil, so, therefore, the armor did evil. If you hold it, it will do good, since YOU'RE good."

"Oh," said Sage. "So what does that have to do with Cye's dream skipping?"

"Simple. It was an aftereffect of the Kaze experiment," said Anubis.

"An after effect? You mean like another consequence?" said Kento.

Anubis nodded. "Exactly. Your consequences were extra powers. Cye's was dream skipping. The both of you, I don't know."

I blinked. "Wouldn't Kento's eye of the future be a power?"

"No, there's no way to tell where it came from. Could be something he was born with and is just now awakening to, could be the result of his soul coming in contact with Keisha's at the time of the Break. We may never know," said Anubis. "But as far as what the abilities are, the Staff can help figure this out."

Sage blinked. "How's it gonna do that?"

"And can it make microwave pancakes, too?" said Ria.

Anubis wisely chose to answer Sage's question. "Simply press your hand against the gold orbe. The Staff should force you to use whatever power it is you've been given unless it's something very obscure, such as Cye's ability."

"That's it?" said Kento.

"That's it. Sage? You first," said Anubis. 

Sage nervously stood up and walked over to the Staff. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hand over the orbe, looked at the rest of us, and gulped. "Well, here goes nothing," he said, placing his hand on the orbe.

Sage promptly disappeared.

"Cool!" said Ria, standing up. "What did he do?"

"Huh?" came Sage's voice from seemingly no where.

"Where are you?" asked Sam, whipping her head around. "I don't see you."

Sage's laugh could be heard. "Sam, what are you guys talking about? I'm right here! I haven't moved since I placed my hand. . . on. . . the. . . Staff. . . What the hell happened to me!?"  
"I think you've been given the ability to become invisible," said Anubis. In a sudden blink, Sage was visible, his hand just above the staff. The blonde Ronin Warrior looked more than a little confused. Then he smiled. "That could become VERY useful."

"Oh, believe me, I know," said Sage. He brain seemed to be working in overtime as a smug grin crossed his face. "I could sneak into Trulpa's stronghold and she'd never know it."

"Until her power sensors go off," said Kento. "Forgot about those, didn't you?"

"Shut up," said Sage. He sat down on the couch next to Sam.

"All right, Sage is the Invisible Man, so what is Kento besides the Human Garbage Disposal?" said Ria.

"Man, you're snippier than usual today," said Rona.

Ria smiled. "I'm in a good mood."

I turned my nose up in disgust. "There's a pretty bad situation and you're in a GOOD mood?"

Our leader shrugged. "Well, it could be worse," said Ria.

"Please don't say that, you'll just jinx it into getting worse," said Keisha. She looked over at her partner in arms and placed a hand on his shoulder. Kento looked at her in response. "All right Kento, your turn."

Kento gulped. "I'm can't spontaneously combust or something, can I?" he asked. 

"Uh, no," said Anubis. "Just. . . just put your hand on the Staff." Kento gulped, blew up at his bangs, and mumbled something under his breath. After making a quick fist, he touched the orbe.

He immediately turned into a duck.

"Kento turns in a duck?" said Keisha.

"Quack! Quack? QUACKQUACKQUACKQUACK-" was Kento's answer.

"Shut up or you'll be swimming in orange sauce!" yelled Ria. Kento the Duck promptly shut up. The green and brown mallard that was once our friend sat on the floor, looking around in curiosity. He then turned up to Anubis.

"Quack?" he asked.

"Ah, must be shape shifting," he said.

"But why a duck?" I asked, picking him up. "He's a cute ducky."

"Quack," he said as I began to pat his head.

Keisha laughed, taking him out of my hands. "What else can he turn into?"

"Probably most other animals, other people, and any other living creature. He could be a very effective spy as well if he can act as well as he can shape-shift," said Anubis.

"Cool!" said Sage, who had somehow gotten in Keisha's lap. But yet, Sage was still sitting next to Sam. It didn't take too long to figure out what happened, especially from the expression on the face of the Sage sitting next to Sam.

"Kento, cut it out," said Sage. Kento/Sage just snickered and turned back into Kento after getting out of Keisha's lap. He then sat back down next to her. She giggled, looking at him with shimmering eyes.

"Can we all see problem about to arise from this?" said Ria.

"What do you mean?" asked Kento, grinning as he put one of his arms over the couch directly over Keisha. The other Hardrock didn't seem to notice the gesture and continued to pay attention to the conversation at hand.

"If you dare try the inch and grope trick you'll be eating through a straw for the next decade, Duck Boy," said Sam, raising her first. "You got that? Or do I have to elaborate for you?"

Kento blinked. "Inch and grope? What's that?"

Sage translated that phrase into Japanese. "Get it?" he said.

"What?! I always do this!" said Kento, waving his hands around. "I'm not that kind of a guy!"

Anubis sighed heavily. "Well, this could be interesting. I think I may have a plan of attack to at least get Cye back on our side. We might not be able to fully break the curse, but we can at least get the Jewel of Death into our possession."

"We're listening," said Ria. "Is it sneaky, deceitful, and all out dastardly?"

"No, not really," said Anubis. Ria visually displayed her disappointment by pouting and folding her arms. I shook my head. Sometimes, the other Senshi never ceased to amaze me.

~

Latest questions! Latest questions!

Iceangel0318- Sorry, there isn't going to be any Ria/Ryo things for a while. But don't worry- I have special plans for them. . .

Dixxy


	40. Chapter Forty

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Forty: Getting Cye Back

(Sara)

Things were set for the plan. I was going to be the bait, which didn't make me feel exactly safe, but I did keep in mind that Kento was very close by and that the other Senshi (plus Cara, who was finally allowed her armor) were not much farther away. Anubis was with the Senshi. Sage was the closest, in case anything went wrong. In fact he was standing next to me, he was just invisible.

The plan we had relied on a large amount of ifs. So our leader came up with a back-up plan. If we failed, Ria had given us specific instructions to place our hands between our knees and prepare to kiss our butts good-bye.

The place? The top of the Prudential building. It was nighttime, so no citizens would be likely to see us, unless some idiot decided to play Human Fly. Several crates had been placed on the roof sometime earlier, which provided good hiding places for Kento. The stage was set.

"You nervous?" asked Sage. It was actually really weird listening to him and not being able to see him. Kind of like his voice was coming from everywhere at once. Truth be told, I wasn't sure if I was looking in the right direction.

"Um, yes," I said. "I am nervous." 

Sage chuckled. "That's expected."

"Well you have to shut up once our brainwashed friend gets here," I said. "You're supposed to be back up in case something goes wrong." I sighed heavily. "The smoke balls are going to be great." 

"Yeah, they'll make Kento's entrance look GREAT. I just hope he can keep up the role," said Sage. "If not, then we might actually have to go with Ria's pathetic excuse for a back-up plan."

"Well, for Cye's sake, he'd better keep the role up," I said. "If he doesn't, we're all doomed. Even Cye. He'll be trapped forever. . ." I saw a shimmering light in the sky. "That had better be him."

Suddenly, there was a bright flash before my eyes. I winced, placing my arms over my eyes. Once the light died down, I looked towards the light to see Cye standing before me. He had his hands on his hips and looked just as angry and as evil as before. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

"You already know why I'm here, Cye. To save you from Trulpa's clutches!" I said. I clasped my hands together. Time to play the pathetic wuss. "Please, I beg of you, try to fight off the spell that has entangled you."

Cye laughed. "Cye is gone. I, Destiny, am here instead. I am the Child of Destiny, and on behalf of my mistress, Lady Trulpa, I will destroy all her stand in her way. She will control the Mortal Realm! You are all doomed!"

"You lie!" I said. "I know Cye is struggling to fight whatever evil spell has overtaken this body! You can't deny that! He's still in there, waiting to have this curse broken!"

"Maybe so, little mouse, but what brings you here?"

"Because I wish to battle you," I said. "And NEVER called me LITTLE!" I drew my dagger from behind my back (it had been secured in the belt loop of my jeans) and tried to hold it so I looked like a threat.

Cye started to howl with laughter. "You call THAT a weapon?! Pathetic, little Senshi, absolutely pathetic! But let's fight, shall we?" He drew a larger version of my dagger. With that, we began to stare each other down and began to pace around in circles. 

_Wait for him to make the first strike, then avoid him, _I reminded myself. Just as planned, Cye lunged at me. I jumped out of the way and began to avoid his thrusts and lunges. This went on for roughly three or so minutes before he had me pinned against the ground. I stared up into his eyes fearfully, although I knew that he wouldn't be able to hurt me. 

"Today is a good day to die, isn't it?" said Cye.

"No, I'm not afraid of you. You can't kill me. Partners in arms can't kill each other," I said. I grinned. "Face it, Cye. You can't lay a finger on me."

"Oh? Well you're forgetting that my powers from the Armor of Cruelty aren't at all related to you," said Cye. He grinned. "Now you're going to get it, little brat. You will all see the power that my Mistress has."

"Uh oh," I said.

BOOM!

"HALT!"

Cye looked up, his eyes growing wide as he saw Trulpa had suddenly appeared before us. "Mistress Trulpa? What are you doing here?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

"I did not authorize this destruction!" said Trulpa, her arms folded.

"But you sent me to do her in!" said Cye.

Trulpa screeched. "I SENT YOU TO CAPTURE HER, YOU IDIOT!"

"Oh," said Cye. "But I was certain-"

"No buts about it, let the girl up," said Trulpa. Cye did, but he grabbed my shoulder. "Good, we can have her questioned for information. Now, I want you to close your eyes."

"Why?" asked Cye. "Why do I need to close my eyes?"

"Do you dare question your mistress?" said Trulpa.

"No, Trulpa," he said. "I will close my eyes."

"And don't move," she said. Cye nodded and closed his eyes. Trulpa walked up to Cye and carefully placed her fingers around the string of the Jewel of Death. In one swift movement, she removed it, and Cye fell to his knees, clutching his chest as he stared wide-eyed at the ground.

Sage reappeared. "It worked!" he said. 

Trulpa grinned. "I am one hell of an actor, aren't I?" she said. One bright flash and strange, squishy sound later, Trulpa became Kento. "I can't believe it worked, but dude, that rocked!"

Cye blinked and looked around. "Where. . . where am I?"

"In safe hands," said Sage, squatting down before Cye. 

"Sage?" he said. "What, what happened?"

"You're temporarily free from Trulpa's control, but we still gotta break your curse," I said, I placing a hand on Cye's shoulder. Sure enough, his hair was still streaked with yellow and blue, his eyes still crimson red. It was strange to see him so calm and peaceful instead of menacing and evil.

Cye stared at me through wide eyes. "I, I really did talk to you in my sleep?"

"Your old man will tell you about it," I said. "Can you walk?"

"I, I think so," he said, Sage helping him to his feet. "But why did Trulpa-"

"Kento can shape shift," said Sage, helping Cye stand up. He grinned as he dusted the smaller Ronin Warrior off. "Anubis came up with the plan. Pretty good idea, huh? The Jewel of Death couldn't tell the difference between Kento and the real Trulpa!"

I saw the other Senshi and Anubis come over to the roof. "Is everything all right?" asked Ria. I nodded. "Great! That means the plan worked and we don't have to kiss our butts good-bye!"

No one paid attention to Ria. All eyes were shifting between Cye and Anubis. The two were staring at each other, unsure of what to say or do. What was one to do when suddenly confronted by the son or father they never knew they had. Finally, weak smiles formed on both of their faces as they embraced each other. "Cye. . . you're all right," said Anubis. He pulled back and looked at Cye. "My son."

"I, I'll be okay," said Cye, near tears. The rest of us watched in an unspoken awe. It was just a beautiful scene, bringing me close to crying as well. I'd never seen Anubis look so. . . relieved, ever since I met him. Sure their relationship won't ever be like most father-son relationships- Cye WAS already sixteen- and there was a lot that Anubis, as a father, has missed out on. Still, they both looked happy to see each other.

"I think they look cute," said Keisha, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It's really sweet."

"I agree, but we have other things to do first. We've got to free him from that curse and figure out what to do with the Jewel of Death," said Cara. "I wish I could say I knew how."

"We can figure this out," said Kento. "It can't be that hard, can it?"

~

"Careful, careful," cautioned Ria.

"I know what I'm doing!" said Sage. We were gathered in Mike's living room, Sage and Kento attempting to remove split the Jewel of Death from the Armor of the Torrent. 

"How do you figure this'll work, Anubis?" asked Keisha.

Anubis shrugged. "If I'm right, then their armors should, at this point, have some incredibly strong links to each other from different things that have happened to them, mainly Kaze and their initial captivity from Talpa."

"So what your saying is that our power should attract Cye's armor and NOT the Jewel of Death, therefore causing the two talismans to be separated from each other, similar to mixing iron with rice and getting the iron out with a magnet?" asked Kento.

"Basically," said Anubis, scratching his head.

"That makes sense, but what do we do with the Jewel of Death?" asked Mike. 

"We'll figure that out soon enough," said Anubis. He turned to the three Ronin Warriors in our midst. Though Cye was dressed in more normal clothing now, he was still. . . strange looking. "Need any help?"

"You know, we should probably just get some rest and try again in the morning," said Sage. "It's been a long day for all of us, especially Cye. So we'll meet back here tomorrow, okay?"

"Yup." "Sure." "Fine." "All right with me." "Okay."

"Good," said Sage. "We'll see you tomorrow then."


	41. Chapter Forty-One

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Forty-One: Splitting the Jewel

(Cye)

I know that all three of us could feel the power of our armors struggling to free my armor from the talisman, but the power just wasn't enough. Kento and Sage kept trying even after most of the Senshi left (Sara stuck around), but they eventually gave up. I felt insecure about the whole thing, but I understood why they gave up. They must have been straining their powers to get what little progress they were getting done. So we all headed to bed and Sara left.

I couldn't sleep. 

Mike had given me a room (as you probably know, his house is huge) with a small balcony on it- a lot of the rooms in his mansion did- and I sat on the banister looking out at the stars. It felt good to be back in the Mortal World, with my friends, and at the start of a somewhat shaky relationship with my father. 

Sara had guessed that because of the rather large time lapse since my birth and actually knowing who he was, that we would probably be more like brothers or cousins rather than father and son. That made sense; despite how old he really was, he looked and acted about twenty-one or so, making it look like only five years separated us.

I smiled at the thought of Sara. After everyone else left and Kento and Sage took a break, she stayed behind and the two of us talked for a while. She told me a little about herself and asked me about stuff I liked. We shared a few stories and laughs before she said she had to leave. I hated to see her go. 

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it was one of those "love at first sight" things. I think it was more that I enjoyed her company as a friend. And it was nice someone was sharing their feelings on the subject. She was obviously worried about me. I know the other Senshi were as well, but she was more open about it. I just wasn't sure if it was just her personality, her armor, or something else that brought about that.

"Hey, Cye, what's on your mind?"

I turned to see Kento had joined me out the balcony. He looked like he hadn't got much sleep, either. Maybe he sensed my troubles. I smiled as he pulled himself up on the railing. "Nothing much, just. . . you know."

"Yeah, I can't believe Trulpa would stoop THIS low. No, actually I can, scratch that lost thought," said Kento. I laughed. "I was kinda thinking, and I got an idea. My armor, Sage's armor, and your armor are connected, but the pull between those three armors wasn't enough, now was it?"

"No," I said.

"What about Sara's armor?" said Kento.

My eyes widened. "Sara?"

"Torrent of the Senshi. The Ancient did put little links between the armors. So it might be enough to push it over the edge and free you from the spell," said Kento. "Heck, I bet even what's left of Anubis' old powers could help."

I looked down towards the ground. "Yeah, maybe."

"You're still not sure what to think about him being your dad, do you?"

"No, I don't," I said. I looked back at my best friend. "You need to understand I never had any sort of a father figure until I stayed with your family. And you know your dad and I weren't really close."

"He liked you, you just weren't buddy-buddy like I was with him," said Kento. "He did notice you seemed to have a weird disposition around him, though. He knew what you were feeling, growing up fatherless. He didn't have the slightest idea what the hell it was like, but he knew it was there."

"I talked to Sara, and she said that if it were her, she thought that maybe it would feel weird trying to have a parent child relationship," I said. "It's just. . . Trulpa blew all of this on me on my last birthday. I've been so confused since then."

"It'll end up being more of a brotherly thing, I know, but that'll be cool!" said Kento. "If he's more like an older brother, you can talk about getting laid and stuff. I could never go up to my dad and say stuff like that."

My eyes widened. "That had better be an extreme example."

"Well, yeah," said Kento shrugging. "Look, try to get some sleep, okay, dude?"

"Okay," I said. "G'night, Kento."

"Night, Cye. Sweet dreams. Don't go sneaking into mine or else I'll give you hell to pay," said Kento.

I grinned. "Why? Keisha in your dreams?"

Kento blushed at the comment. "Uh. . . whatever gave you that idea?"

"Don't tell me you think I didn't see you two giving each other little looks this afternoon. You like her, don't you?" I said, grinning. "Just admit it, Kento. You think she's cute."

"Well. . . yeah, I guess so," said Kento. "But. . . would it work?"

"Why not?" I said. "This is America. In most western civilizations they try to put racial differences behind them. Just because she's black and you're not shouldn't mean a rat's ass. Now go get some sleep."

"Fine, fine, I will, I will," said Kento. "G'night."

"Night."

~

The following day, Sara came over early so Kento could explain his idea to her, Sage, and my dad. "I say it's worth a try. I'd love to help out in any way I can," said Sara.

"Good, because I don't think Cye likes this much more than we do," said Kento.

"What makes you think I'm pleased with this at all?" I said. I expressively waved my hands over myself. "I look a tornado ran through a really bad costume shop! I can't go out like this or anything!"

"I was trying to make a point, now let's go see if this works!" said Kento, cocking his head to one side. "And don't make me toss you over my shoulder and carry you out there."

I frowned. "I hate it when you do that!" I stood up and followed an already on her way out Sara to the backyard door. Sage and my father were at my heels, Kento standing dumbly in the living room for several seconds before he took off after us.

Once we were in the backyard, Sara closed my hands around the Jewel of Death. She then placed her palms gently around my hands. Sara smiled sweetly at me, secretly making me melt. Sage followed suit, followed by Kento, then Anubis. 

"Now, aside from having a big stack of hands, what else do we do?" asked Sage.

"Concentrate?" suggested Kento. "Concentrate on any links that might connect you, your armor, or your soul to Cye. Anything, and try to pry it free from the Jewel of Death." I felt the other begin to concentrate and suddenly, I could feel it begin to happen.

Kento and Sage. I could feel their souls trying to pull my soul free of the Jewel of Death. The three of us were closed because we were all Ronin Warriors. We were also close because of our captivities in both Trulpa and Talpa's complexes. Our souls had been brought closer together by Talpa and linked by Trulpa with the Kaze experiment.

Anubis. Anubis had unknowingly created me one drunken night at a bar. It was his blood running through my veins, his hair growing on my head, my eyes that allowed me to see. Even though there wasn't much between us, I could see a very, very weak parental look of affection coming from him as time wore on. The one whose body mine had come from was trying to free it.

Sara. The Torrent of the Senshi was desperately trying to free its compliment, my Armor of the Torrent. The two armors shared a power source, and in a way, "knew" each other. I could feel Sara's own power trying to help her armor free mine. For someone so small, her power was making quite the difference. 

I continued to struggle to pull myself free from its binds, and I could feel it happening. The hot, warm glow between my hands, my friends and father flooding their powers into my, trying to overpower the evil talisman. "It's. . . working. . ." Kento said through gritted teeth. "I. . . can. . . feel. . . it. . ."

BOOM!

"WAHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"AHHHHH!!!!"

"EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"  
"SON OF A-"

CRASH! SMACK!

The sudden explosion of power from the Jewel of Death was overwhelming. It sent us all flying in different directions. I saw Sage was in a tree, Anubis was in Mike's tool shed, Sara in Sue Lee's wading pool, and Kento in a wheelbarrow. I was under a tree, looking around to figure out if it worked.

Sara stood up, shaking her head to try and dry off a bit. She walked over to the now blackened grass where we once stood, and reached down. I stood up and walked over. "Did it-"

"Work?" asked Sara. She smiled. "If I had a mirror I'd show you."

"It, it worked?" I asked. Sara took my hand and placed my armor orbe in my palm, the Jewel of Death in her other palm. "And-"

"You have really gorgeous sea green eyes," she said. Sara grinned. "Ya know, you're pretty good looking when you aren't under evil curses."

"Sara, have you been hanging out with Rona too much?" asked Kento. The small Hawaiian turned to look at Kento. "Oh yeah, you should talk, you eavesdropper."

Anubis laughed. "That was your own doing, Kento."

"You saw too?!"

Sage snorted. "Anubis told me about you and Keisha on first base. You'd make a cute couple!"

Kento turned away. "Well, whatever my relationship with Keisha is does not matter. What DOES matter is kicking Trulpa's hide so hard she won't EVER come back."

"Amen to that!" said Sara, just as a blast arose from the distance. "Oh no! Something's happening! We've got to check it out!"


	42. Chapter Forty-Two

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Forty-Two: Assault!

(Sam)

While Sara had gone over to Mike's house, the remainder of the Senshi was at my apartment. Sage had called me that morning and told us that they were going to try something with Sara and see if it worked. We were going to give them space as to not distract them from whatever it was. "What do you guys think'll happen next?" asked Ria.

"I guess we'll have another battle with Trulpa, but this time we'll have three of the Ronin Warriors to back us up!" said Keisha. "This time we'll get rid of her and we can finally get back to normal."

"I wouldn't say that," said Rona. "There's bound to be other evil demons in the Nether Realm, remember? Kento and Sage were telling us stories about those other guys, Sarenboob and Saberstick, remember?"

"I think you mean Saran Wrap and Saber Tooth," said Ria.

"No, it was Sarenbo and Saberstryke!" said Keisha.

"Who gives a shit? They're all dead now. Behind us, kaput, deceased, gone, elevator going down, DEAD." I said. "But I'd like to think I can go back to being semi normal."

"Eh?" asked Rona.

"I'd like to give guys a try. I mean, Sage, Kento, and Cye are pretty nice guys, you know?" I said. "And Sage has kind of showed me a little about how even guys can be good and that not every guy is like the way my dad was."

Keisha grinned. "You're falling for him. Hard."

I looked away. "You should talk," I said. "We all know Sara already caught you and Kento making out in the backyard minus a few key articles of clothing. Face it, Keisha, you're falling HARD for HARD-rock."

"Kento wasn't wearing a shirt because he was sparring, it was one kiss, and not a single article of clothing left my body!" she protested. "And, and. . . Sam, you make me so mad sometimes!" 

"She admitted it," said Ria. Then, she sighed heavily. "You know, curiosity has won me over. I wanna see what's going on at Mike's house right about now. Seems like they think it's gonna work."

"So do I," said Rona. "I want to see if they succeeded in changing Cye back."

I nodded. "So, do we go check it out?" The decision was unanimous.

~

On our way to Mike's house, we all sensed a dark presence. I could see it in the others' eyes, we all knew that it was about to attack. "You guys feel that?" asked Rona.

"I did," I said. "Which way?"  
Keisha didn't say anything, but her stronger senses brought us to one of the parks in town. Nothing was there except grass, benches, and a ball park. "It's here," she said. "I can feel it very, very close by."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"I'm sure- AHHHH!!!"

"AHHHH!"

The next thing we knew we were entangled in a giant spider web net. "What is this?!" said Ria. 

"It must be Daria or Dais," said Rona. "We've got to get out of here!"

"Too late," said Keisha. "They're already here."

I looked up and saw that all seven of the warlords were standing around us. "Excellent observation," said Daria. "It would seem as if we've captured you all, now doesn't it?"

"Oh shut up," I said. "Sara and the Ronin Warriors are out there- what the heck? I'm relying on a man?"

"Sam, now is NOT the time," said Ria. "We're gonna get out of here and pulverize you!"

"BLACK LIGHTNING SLASH!"

The web encasing us was released by the suddenly flash of black electricity. There, standing on the other end of the park, was Cara. She was in her full armor, only her face mask was gone. 

"Cara? What happened to your stupid eye glasses?" asked Vanessa.

Cara narrowed her eyebrows. "Easy. They were the one thing preventing me from seeing. The Ronins have changed that."

"Well, you will now be destroyed by those you have deserted, Cara!" said Cale. He held out his head, creating a black mimic of the Halo spells.

"Go ahead, Cale," said Cara.

"Is she- oh, right," said Rona. "Let's armor up and start kicking some Warlord butt!"

"Ronin Senshi, GET IT ON!" said Ria. "Wildfire of the Senshi, TAO JIN!"

"Halo of the Senshi, TAO CHI!"

"Hardrock of the Senshi, TAO GI!"

"Strata of the Senshi, TAO INOCHI!"

Ria smiled. "Guys, prepare to attack!" she said, preparing her own elemental attack. Keisha began her earthquake maneuver, Rona started up a windstorm, and I began summoning a thundercloud.

Anubra cried out something as they began to prepare spells and summoned Tin Cans a dime a dozen. In other words, they were reinforcing their efforts considerably.

Before long, a nicely violent battle ensued. Basically we all started to attempt to kick each other's butts. I actually found myself having fun trying to rearrange Sehkment's face. 

Before long, the battlefield was engulfed in white lightning. I looked up and wondered if one of my thunderclouds had gone out of control, when I looked over and saw Sage conducting the storm with incredible ease. He was GOOD. For that matter, I also saw Kento making quick work of Tin Cans with the assistance of Anubis and Tiger Lily. I was also impressed by the attacks Kento was coming up with, something I was sure that Keisha was impressed by.

I also smiled to see Cye and Sara working together with their water magic. For the first time I saw the Ronin Warrior of Water without his little curse. He did, in a weird way, kind-of resemble his father. He just looked more, youthful and bright eyed. I saw Sara kept on stealing a few glances his way, obviously at least a little interested in what he was doing.

KA-POW!

The battlefield was suddenly jolted like a bug on trampoline. Only the Warlords and remaining Warladies weren't down on the ground. I looked up and saw that Trulpa- the REAL Trulpa- had joined the party.

And ultimately, had come to crash it.

"Well, well, well," she said, looking at Cye. Trulpa shook her head, looking very disappointed. "So, you've reversed my little curse, I see. I am not amused by this at all. I should've had you under my permanent control."

"Well you're gonna be dead in a minute," said Kento, getting to his feet. "I just want you to know that you took away nearly a year of my life living in your stupid little Nether Realm, and you're going to pay for it!"

"Our friends and families think we're dead. Because of you we can't ever see them again. You used us for your own purposes, twisting us into a hideous monster or using me to get your hands on an evil relic," said Sage.

"You manipulated me into a monster that I couldn't control. You made me face off against my friends, my father, and the Ronin Senshi, whom I'm supposed to protect from harm," said Cye. "You're a monster!"

All three of the Ronin Warriors looked beyond pissed.

Trulpa laughed evilly. "Well, from the looks of this battle, the three of you have improved greatly," she said. "Now it's time to execute my next back up plan."

Anubis raised the staff. "I won't let you, Trulpa!" he said.

"Oh, is that so, monk? You don't weld the full power of the Ancient One, you don't have nearly enough power to do it alone," said Trulpa. She eyed Kento, Sage, and Cye. "Besides, my reasons for coming here involve my three special guests."

"We aren't going back with you, Trulpa," said Sage. "If you think for one-"

ZABAMMMM!!

Suddenly, all three of our new friends were encased in balls of dark energy, all three screaming in pain. My panicked eyes turned to Sage first. I was worried about him. Never before had I ever felt such strong feelings about anyone. Not even my aunt, or my mother.

That was when I realized I'd fallen in love with the guy.

"Let them go!" Keisha cried. 

Trulpa laughed. "Tell you what, little Senshi brats, if you want your pathetic little Ronin Warriors back so badly, you can come and get them yourself!" With that, she, her generals, and the Ronin Warriors, disappeared in a sudden explosion of magic.

Ria looked out at the battlefield in disbelief. "We've got to get them back."


	43. Chapter Forty-Three

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Forty-Three: Return to the Nether Realm

(Sara)

I had never felt so alone in my life. I had never felt so worried in my life. And I had never, ever, ever felt such a deep, sickening hatred for anyone in all of my fifteen years of existence. Trulpa had kidnapped the Ronin Warriors and brought them back to a place that had been a living Hell for them. Demon or not, it was almost beyond my comprehension just how sick and revolting she really, truly was. Destroying and taking over the world is one thing- to single out people to make them suffer to the limit is a horse of a different color.

"We've got to figure out how we're going to get the boys back," said Rona. We had recollected at Mike's house, the living room seeming oddly quiet without the boys. _Yet we've only known them a week at the most. Why does it seem to cold and quiet here without them? _I wondered. "Kento, Sage, and Cye are our friends now, as well as our allies. We need to figure out a way to bust them out," Rona finished.

"What about the other two Ronins?" asked Sam. "Couldn't they help?"

"No, they wouldn't help us unless we were to find a way to break the last two barriers," said Keisha. The normally cheerful Senshi of the Hardrock was abnormally sullen and morose, visibly shaken by the boys' recapture. Especially that of Kento. "In our fight with Trulpa the Iron Rock Crusher, Super Wave Smasher, and Thunderbolt Cut did little against her. Like the other two sure kills would help?"

"This is true," said Cara. "Trulpa has a very high resistance to attack magic, as Talpa had a high resistance to non-attack magic. We'll need to use either the Inferna or the best you have as far as your magic goes."

Anubis was sitting in one of Mike's bigger easy chairs, deep in thought. He was pretty collected, teeming with a cold fury that we all felt. Trulpa had his son and he was PISSED. "We're going to have to infiltrate her fortress in an entrance other than the sewers or the front door."

"She'd expect us to go into the sewers because that's how we got into her palace the last time," I concluded. "We need to find another way in. But what other entrance to the castle is there?"

All eyes turned to Cara. She'd lived in Trulpa's castle for a long time. Maybe she hadn't seen it, but she probably knew of one. "There is an entrance to Trulpa's stronghold in the Under City."

"The Under City!?" said Anubis. "Are you crazy!?"

"What's the Under City?" asked Keisha.

"The Under City is an incredibly huge metropolis that stands in the darkest shadows of Trulpa's castle. It's filled with some of the most dangerous Dynasty assassins to ever live," said Anubis. "Now that I no longer work for the Dynasty, even I'm afraid to go there."

"But it might be the only way to get inside," said Sam. "If it's that dangerous, she might think that we won't try that entrance, right? So if Trulpa doesn't expect us to go in that way, then that's our best solution!"

Cara stood up. "Anubis does have his point. While I haven't actually seen what the Under City looks like, I have heard stories and I've been there. There are screams of murder, rape, and robbery at an almost constant pace."

"Assassins and prostitutes line every corner. The most disgusting examples of demons and humans alike live there, all immortal, unless they're murdered by another assassin," said Anubis. "I warn you, there may be another way in."

"The only other way into the castle is directly through Trulpa's throne room, where the main teleporter is," said Cara. "Going in through there is even more suicidal than the Under City. That or the power boosters, which is about as intelligent as grabbing onto an electrified fence- you'd all be fried."

"So then are we going in through the Under City?" asked Rona.

Anubis sighed heavily, but he eventually nodded. "As much as I really don't want to, we don't have much of a choice but to go to the Under City," he said. He took in a heavy breath and let it out slowly. "Go home to your parents, get some sleep, and if you do nothing else, be absolutely sure you tell them that you love them when you come back here tomorrow morning."

"Why's that?" asked Sam.

"Because there's no way to guarantee that we'll all be coming back alive."

~

Comments on even more reviews:

Kar-chan: No, I don't know why you didn't think of that.

Winter Peacecraft-Yuy- Ah, my most loyal fan. Rona and Rowen hook up in _Dragonia_, which is a few stories down the way. As for how the long distance duet thingy works, it has to do with the link between the two Strata armors and the fact that one of the attributes of the Strata armors (in my stories, at least) is music. This becomes an important theme in _Dragonia_.

Only seventeen parts left to go! Will the Senshi make it into the Under City? What plans does Trulpa have for our boys? Will Keisha and Kento admit their obvious feelings for each other? What haunts the lower levels of Trulpa's castle? And what the hell is a Flitteree? All this and more is coming up!


	44. Chapter Forty-Four

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Forty-Four: The Countdown Begins

~

Note: The winged character in the prologue (don't worry, she'll get a name later) was taken from a contest I held on my website for something. So she isn't mine.

~

The Under City was unusually dreary that morning. The thick smell of smog, drugs, and rotten eggs hung heavier than usual in the gray sky. The sound of swears, screams, desperate people begging for mercy, and gunshots were slightly more common than usual that gloomy day. The buildings and people seemed even more miserable than the norm.

The last of the Flitterees sat in the window of her sky rise apartment in the Under City, looking out at the city that she hated to say was her home. Irritated wings flapped behind her, long pink and blue flowing in the soft breeze that passed through. _I wouldn't have to be here if it weren't for that bastard Talpa. I only owe Trulpa in that he's dead at her hands._

She looked up at the tall tower containing the victory lights. The yellow one was blaring violently, the red one eerily dormant. "Damn," she cursed. "They've gotten another victory- so what's this one about?" The woman knew that the yellow light was a sign of a victory, which she knew couldn't have been good. She was one of the few who lived in the Under City that didn't like the Dynasty. The Dynasty, after all, had nearly wiped out her entire species.

The winged woman knew she had only one way to find out exactly what this new victory was. She flung herself out of the window and began to plummet to the street level. At the last second, she opened her wings and began to fly towards an area of the city she knew usually had the most of the gossip. The Magical Madman Market.

The bustling, busy marketplace in the southern fifth of the city was a huge shopping center filled with shops for witches, warlocks, goblins, and other demons that made their home in the Under City. It was also the capitol of the city's prostitution, gambling, and drug dealing. The Market also had a large percentage of the city's muggings and murders. It was the home of some of the most dangerous minds in the Under City. But more importantly, it was where all of the latest news from the castle came, despite it's great distance from it.

Towards the back of the grounds was a stage, known to most of the inhabitants as Gossip Corner. This is where someone, usually a troll, announced to the city why either of the victory lights had flashed. The winged woman took a perch on a broken street light as a particularly ugly green troll with a large, potato shaped nose took the stage. The troll was accompanied by two Dynasty Soldiers, acting as body guards. The crowd hushed, anxious to know what had happened at the castle. The soldiers had meant that it had surely been a military victory. Then what was the military victory? Had Trulpa regained her armor? Had the three Ronin Warriors she captured nearly a year ago been killed? What had happened?

"According to our Empress, Lady Trulpa, the three Ronin Warriors, Kento of the Hardrock, Sage of the Halo, and the Child of Destiny, Cye of the Torrent, have been recaptured," he said. The crowd was a mix of moans, boos, and applause. The winged woman stared wide eyed at Gossip Corner. _Oh no. . . they've been caught again. . ._

"Wott do 'ay plan ta do wit 'em?" asked someone in the ground with a high pitched, screechy voice that sounded something like a crow in a blender.

The troll grinned, then laughed a sickly evil laugh. "Kaze, the great warrior, is to be revived!" he said. Now the crowd took on a demeanor of massive confusion. Kaze, as they all knew, had been defeated very easily by the Ronin Senshi. What good (err. . . bad) would be brought about by resurrecting him?

"But the Senshi were able to destroy Kaze last time along with save the Ronin Whelps!" said another person in the crowd. "How is this time going to be different, hmm? How does Trulpa think he'll be any better?"

"Simple. She isn't going to make the same mistake she made the last time. This time, she has a much better plan that will ensure the destruction of the Ronin Warriors, the Ronin Senshi, the Traitors, the Staff, and the Mortal World!" the troll said happily, raising his arms into the air.

More wild applause and disgust were displayed. The winged woman gasped, them flew back to her apartment, unsure of what her next move should be. _I must free the three Ronin Warriors, even if it's the last thing I do. . ._

~

Trulpa paced back and fourth in her throne room, occasionally glaring at her three chained captives. She wore her red diamond dress, the dress she wore when she was particularly in the mood for death, destruction, and war. The all black, sleeveless dress had color only from the red diamond on the bodice and the sharp, purple belt that reflected her thin waist. Two gold bracelets adorned her wrist, long, red fingernails occasionally clinking against the bracelets. Tall, high heeled black boots clicked against the hard floor with each step she took. 

All three captives were shackled together by one long chain containing the cuffs that bound their wrists, ankles and necks at bay. The eerie glow of the green candles in the throne room gave it a creepy, green hue, making Trulpa looked all the more evil and deadly, and adding a certain sense of hopelessness to Sage, Cye, and Kento. "So, the three of you not only managed to escape my grasp, but now you have discovered additional abilities in addition to your armor powers and the truth about your heritage, Torrent."

Cye looked up at Trulpa with hatred filled in his eyes. The flicker of the green seemed to be reflected in his eyes, adding to the intense glare. Even chained as he was, the Child of Destiny still held an air of defiance that should have by all means made Trulpa's spine crawl. All four knew that Cye could quite easily have enough power on his own to bring down the evil empress. "And I'm not afraid to use my powers, either."

Trulpa slapped him across the face. Kento and Sage could do nothing to stop her, but did feel the jerk of the chain as Cye was nearly sent to the hard, stone floor. They tried to pull him back and looked up at Trulpa, each of the two with a feeling of deep, burning desire to kill her. She had been the cruelest to Cye, and the two slightly older Ronins did NOT like that.

"Now the Senshi know who were are, what happened, and what your plans are, Trulpa. These are your last days," said Sage. Trulpa looked ready to hit him as well, but just stared coldly at him. Out of the three, Sage was easily the most dignified looking of them. He'd stepped in as an unofficial leader, seeing as Ryo of the Wildfire and Rowen of the Strata were both unaware that the three of them still breathed. "You know it's true, too. We're all going to bring you down."

"I have special plans for the three of your this time. This time I'm not going to foul up. This time I will have your world." She turned to Kento and sneered. "Can you see that in the future, seer?" Trulpa spat out the word "seer" to mock Kento's recently discovered ability of seeing into the future. 

Kento narrowed his eyes. Instead of lashing out with a long string of swears and threats as he would have done just a year ago, he stared coolly at the Dynasty Empress. "No," he said calmly. His voice was filled with a maturity that he had lacked during the war with Talpa, a maturity he'd gained by learning the true spoils of war from Trulpa's imprisonment. A maturity he'd learned from the Ronin Senshi. A maturity gained when he had first kissed Keisha, Hardrock of the Senshi, and realized he'd do anything to keep her safe from harm. "Because there's no way that the three of us, the Senshi, Anubis, and Cara are going to let that happen! We are going to defeat you and you can't do anything to stop us, Trulpa!"

Trulpa snapped her fingers the four Dark Warlords appeared. Osiris, Sehkment, Dais, and Cale (whom Sage sent an especially cold glare towards, knowing that he'd raped Cara, the one person he should have sworn to protect in the first place) stood before Trulpa, ready to carry out whatever her wish was. "Yes, Lady Trulpa?" asked Osiris. "What do you wish us to do with these three?"

"Bring them to the isolation dungeons. I know that the two Hardrocks have a mental link and I don't want them communicating," said Trulpa. Kento took on a sudden look of loneliness. Trulpa grinned. She knew very well that the two young Hardrocks had a very young, blossoming love forming. She could see it in his eyes that he was in love. _Such an odd couple_, Trulpa mused, _a black girl and an oriental boy, hardly able to speak her tongue. How unusual. . . perhaps the armors played a hand in this unlikely courtship._

"Come on, Hardrock, get a move on!" Dais commanded as he and the other three Warlords forced the three Ronin Warriors out of her throne room. "As of now, your days are numbered boy. ACCEPT IT!"

Trulpa grinned as they left her sight. This time, she wouldn't fail. This time, she would succeed in taking over the Mortal Realm. This time, the Senshi would twitch and cry out for mercy at her feet. This time, Anubis and Cara would regret the days they left the Dynasty. This time, she would win. . .


	45. Chapter Forty-Five

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Forty-Five: Last Night in Boston

(Ria)

Anubis told us that he was going to send us to the Under City the next day. He wanted to give us a day to prepare for what lied ahead. We were told that the desolation of the Under City was something that we wouldn't ever forget. The crime, the low morality, and the sickening reality of it all that such a place to could exist. Murders were a daily occurrence, even common. Prostitutes thrived. Drug dealers made fortunes.

But we all still wanted to go. Sage, Cye, and Kento's lives depended on that.

We were all outside training the day we were to leave. Rona and I were sparring while Cara was exchanging tips on sword training with Sam. Whenever Rona and I took short breaks, I would watch them practice a few techniques together, each gaining knowledge from the other. Keisha and Sara were fighting with some long, wooden bows, but Keisha was doing unusually poor. Sara was getting in more hits than usual and Keisha had hardly gotten a single blow on the other Senshi. She really missed Kento and it was showing.

I didn't quite understand her heavy hearted feelings. She'd known him for maybe a week at best, yet she was acting like it was her husband or son that had been captured by the Dynasty. I realized it must have been something to do with the armors, maybe the fact that they'd accidentally contacted while in the Dynasty.

Once night fell, we headed inside. Keisha was still looking depressed, but tried to participate in my pep talk as much as she could. Cara sighed heavily and placed an arm around her shoulder. "Keisha, your feelings are normal."

"I, I don't get it," said Keisha, looking up at the former Warlady. "I've known him for what, maybe a week, and I'm this upset over it? I mean I know I should be worried but, why at this degree?"

Anubis walked in and saw the solemn look on Keisha's face. "Keisha, you and Kento may be soul mates. You share the same armor and what could have started as a simple link could have accelerated when the barrier broke and you lost control of your powers."

Keisha looked up. "How's that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Because if I'm right, it means he misses you, too," said Anubis. "Don't worry, Kento's one of the toughest Ronin Warriors I've met. All of them from his generation are real troopers (Dixxy's Note: No pun intended) and all three of them will be fine." Keisha nodded, but she didn't appear to look much better, if at all. 

"What's the plan, Anubis?" asked Sam.

"Well, Mike and I went to a thrift store. We'll need to blend in, and quite frankly, your modern day clothes won't fit in," he said. Mike came in with two armfuls of bags. "For humans, most wear clothes similar to those that were in style during the 1970's and 1980's- lots of bell-bottoms and patchwork denim. Which is why Mike and I took a quick trip to a thrift store, a Goodwill store, and a vintage store."

"Weird," I said. Mike dumped out the clothes and we all looked over several different jackets, shoes, and pants. The pants had bright, pastel patches and had brand names like Jordache and Guess. The T-shirts consisted of tie-dye and belly shirts. The jackets all had things like "Members Only" written all over them or were easily ankle lengths. The shoes were high tops, many splattered with paint, though a few denim boots worked their way in as well. There were also a few long trench coats worthy of _Punky Brewster _or _Clarissa Explains It All. _I felt like I'd been sent into an 80's time warp.

"Wow, we could put Punky Brewster to shame with these," said Sam, pulling out a long, patched up denim jacket. She tried it on. It went down to her knees and flared out around her waist. "I kinda like these!"

Anubis smiled. "Good, but be aware this isn't a dress up game."

"We know, we know," said Sara. "Hey! I love these boots!" The smallest of our numbers help a pair of patched, denim boots. They went up well beyond her knees. Of course, she liked weird clothes like that. Heck, Sara was a 1980's pop culture fanatic. She doesn't listen to groups like Baha Men or N*SYNC. She listens to Duran Duran and Hall and Oats.

"Sara's going to love the disguises," I joked as I picked up a pair of ripped jeans. "Hey, 'Nubis, you sure you didn't travel back to the 80's to get these outfits, or Sara's closet?"

"Hey!" said Sara. "I don't dress like that!"

Sam snorted. "Yeah, she's right, she doesn't dress like that. But on the other hand, she's the only person in the entire city that I know who actually HAS any Michael Jackson CDs."

Sara blushed furiously. "His early stuff was good!" she defended.

I cleared my throat. "Come on guys, this is serious. We all know that we're getting into something REALLY dangerous. More dangerous than the war. More dangerous than Kaze. A giant in comparison to the mosquito that was Shinshu. Maybe even more dangerous than within the walls of Trulpa's castle."

"She is correct," said Cara. "The Under City is much more dangerous than Trulpa's castle. Survive the Under City and you can probably tackle just about anything Trulpa can throw at you."

Anubis frowned. "But you have to be extremely careful. Naturally Cara and I will be going with you, and where we will most likely be splitting off into groups. . . just be CAREFUL."

"What? Groups? Why?" asked Rona. "What if we need the Inferna?"

Anubis snorted. "The Inferna is an ace in the hole, not a crutch," he explained. "You shouldn't rely on it against the people of the Under City- they're not demon emperors, but they ARE assassins- use your brains, not your brawn."

"I'll lead one of the groups. I may have been blind on my many visits, but if I get a map of it I should do just fine," said Cara. "I know of a few areas that even Anubra and the other Warladies wouldn't touch."

"Good," said Anubis. "I'll lead the other group, then."

"So why do we split up?" asked Rona.

"That'll make the likelihood of us _all_ getting captured a lot less likely," said Keisha. "Ever see _Saving Private Ryan_? That was the basis of that whole movie. They separated the brothers into different legions so that if one of the bases was attacked, the others would be safe. If only one was still alive, they would pull him out of the army or navy or whatever and bring him home."

"I thought watching Matt Damon and his way cute rear running across the screen was the baseline of that movie," said Rona. She smiled. "He's really, really hot! I love him!"

"Rona Maria Santana. You may be a genius. You may be a Senshi. You're probably smarter than me. But yet again you've missed the point entirely," said Keisha, burying her hands into her face.

"Could you two stop arguing over the dumb movie!?" I snapped. "All right, Anubis, let's get the groups organized, figure out our plan of attack, get some sleep and be out of here by nine tomorrow morning."

The others quieted, all eyes turned on me. "Well?" asked Sam.

"Okay, Anubis and Cara each take a group, they'll be the guides. There are seven of us going, er, eight if your count Tiger Lily. Each team will have three Senshi or two Senshi and Tiger Lily. Cara, Anubis does either one of you have any healing abilities?"

"The Staff can heal minor wounds, yes," said Anubis.

"Good, so Sam will be on Cara's team- that way each team can treat injuries. Keisha, you and Sara will split up, one of you can sense Nether Spirits and the other can kill them and sense them. I'll be on Tiger Lily's team, leaving Rona to go wherever there's space left."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm just filler space now, whoop-ee," said Rona.

Anubis nodded. "I'm impressed by your leadership skills finally coming out."

"She's always had them, she just normally prefers to be sarcastic," said Keisha.

I grinned. "Guys, let's get ready to go."

~

We all stood outside in our new clothes- which, made us look like we came from the _Punky Brewster_ episode from Hell- waiting for Anubis to open the portal into the Under City. Anubis was mumbling some ancient chants while the rest of us took some time to individually think over what was going to happen, as we always did before battle. A moment of peace before Lord knew what kind of chaos would break out once we went to battle.

"We have only to wait for the portal to open," the monk said finally. He, too, was wearing the flamboyant jeans and jackets we all adorned. The Staff was no where to be seen, but we knew he could call it up on cue if need be. "It should be open soon."

We waited for the portal to open, all of us silent. Trevor, Evan, my Aunt Sally, Sam's Aunt Ella, and Rona's Dad all stood outside, waiting with Mike and Sue Lee. All were worried about us, which I didn't blame them for. The Under City was going to be very, very dangerous.

One or more of us might not come back.

Suddenly, a bright violet vortex opened up. "This is it," said Anubis. He looked at us all, then at the ground, and back at us again. "I pray that we all make it back alive." Our teacher then stepped in the portal.

One by one, we stepped into the glowing purple circle of light. Tiger Lily and I were bringing up the read. I looked back at our families, smiled weakly, and then stepped into the unknown with my faithful tiger by my side.


	46. Chapter Forty-Six

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Forty-Six: Trulpa's Plot

(Kento)

"How long do you think it'll be until she does whatever she's going to do with us?" asked Sage. Trulpa had tossed the three of us into one of her darker dungeons, which Sage recognized as the one he'd met Sam in. All of us stood, sat, or paced in subarmor. Aside from trying to formulate a plan of escape that would prove to be futile, we had nothing to do but sit and wait.

"The girls will come for us," I said finally, thinking of Keisha. I really did miss her. Over the past week I'd known her, I just, I just felt so, happy, around her. So much happier than the desolation, despair, and feelings of impending doom we'd all been surrounded by during out captivity in the Dynasty.

Sage grimaced after I'd spoken. "I don't know, Kento. Trulpa's jacked up the security like no body's business. By the time they got through, it might be too late for them to save us."

"Sage, don't give up," said Cye, who was experimenting with some of his father's powers in the corner. He placed his hand on the ground and a small, pink rose came up from the dirt in between the cracks on the floor. "We have to have a little faith. It's not just the girls. Cara, Tiger Lily, and my father are out there."

Sage sighed heavily, blowing up at the fey lock that almost always lay before his right eye. "Still, there's a lot of guards out there. It could be too late. But you are right, we do need to have some faith."

"That's the spirit!" Cye said, getting to his feet. "We can't give up hope yet!"

Sage looked up and attempted to smile. "You're right. They were able to save us from Kaze once, and they can probably save us from whatever Trulpa's throwing at us next, too."

The sound of the previously locked door opening startled us. We looked over to see Trulpa had entered the dungeon. All of us looked at her. Trulpa sneered. "I know you all have a deep, burning hatred for me, but it's no matter," she said. She grinned maliciously. "For you see, I have some new, but old, plans for you three."

"What do you want?" Sage snapped.

Trulpa laughed mercilessly. "Kaze."

The three of us stared at her in disbelief. Me, well, my old temper was set off. I lunged at her. "Kento, no!" said Cye, trying to hold me back before I did something incredibly stupid.

Too late. 

Trulpa cried out as she sent a very powerful and painful energy wave my way. I cried out as I hit the floor. Every part of my body felt as if it were ready to explode. My head, my legs, my torso, everything was throbbing and screaming. I bit my bottom lip to try and keep from screaming again, hugging myself to try and ease the pain.

It soon stopped, Sage and Cye holding my throbbing head in Sage's lap. I felt weakened and sick, so I just laid there, letting Cye clutch my head in his hands. "What did you do to him?" asked Sage. "I've never seen anyone in this much pain before!"

"Nothing," said Trulpa. "Just punished a bad boy, that's all."

Sage glared at her through hard eyes. "You know Kaze failed the last time, so why are you bothering with going through it again? The Senshi obviously figured out how to split him and they'll probably do it again."

Trulpa cackled loudly. "This time I have something that will help me dearly."

I saw a glint in her hands. I tried to focus on it. Slowly, it came into focus. The black beet shaped rock that had caused us all a lot of grief sat in the palm of her hand. "The, the Jewel of Death. . ." I said weakly.

Trulpa smirked. "Despite your current state, you've managed to find my little secret, Hardrock," she said. "Yes, boy, this is, in fact, the Jewel of Death. The only useful thing my brother ever created is right here."

Cye looked at the Jewel in fear. "She's going to use that to ensure that the Senshi can't free us this time. If she adds that thing into the mix. . . only God knows what it'll do to us."

"My, my, my, you boys are sharp, aren't you?" said Trulpa. She grinned. "I'd like to see them try and free you from THAT tangled web. Though, I supposed it wouldn't do you all any good."

"Um, excuse me, but we were able to save Cye from the affects of the Jewel of Death, they can definitely do the same again," said Sage. Trulpa's eyes began to glow brightly red, but Sage stood his ground. Maybe it was how strong he suddenly looked that prevented her from attacking him like she had with me. 

I began to kind of realize that Sage was slowly emerging as a leader almost as strong as Ryo. And he was beginning to come through with a bite that I didn't know he had. Sage was normally the quiet, reserved voice of reason. What had happened? Had it been the frustration from being captive in the Dynasty for nearly a year that gave him the edge? Or was it the realization that Ryo and Rowen weren't going to come this time and he had to step up to bat as our leader? Maybe it was the fact that even though he was only at most two months older than us he still felt a sense of seniority?

I sat up, Cye trying to support me as Sage faced Trulpa down. "Four days," she said coldly. "Fours long, agonizing days until the point of absolutely no return for the three of you."

"No return?" I asked.

"This time, when I make Kaze, I can incorporate the Jewel of Death to demolish your souls," she said. The three of us paled. "Even if they freed your bodies, it would be too late to save their precious Ronin Warriors, now wouldn't it?"

Suddenly, the full effect of our situation settled in. She wasn't going to just torment us, drive us as slaves, or turn us against each other. We weren't even going to be lucky enough to spend some time in the gargoyles. No, this time, she was going to flat out kill us.

"You're all going to die," said Trulpa. "Four days, boys. Enjoy them while you can." Trulpa snapped her fingers and in her hands a giant hourglass appeared. "This is how much more time you have to live. I just thought I'd throw in a little something to add to your anxiety."

Sage snarled. "We'll get out of here before that, Trulpa," he said. "We are NOT going to die. We are not going to let you win the Mortal World! You hear me!? We will defeat you!"

"Oh, why can't you just learn to accept your own death with a little dignity, Sage?" said Trulpa, laughing mockingly. "That's all there is left to do. Accept what's to come, since there isn't a damn thing you or your little Senshi brats can do to stop it."

"Says you!" said Cye.

Trulpa snorted. "Four days," she said, slamming the door behind her as she left.

I sat up and looked at the door. "This time we're REALLY in for it."

"Which is exactly why we need to buy ourselves some time," said Sage. He looked around our dungeon, pacing back and forth in an almost panicked state. "We have to figure out a way to stall her."

"How do we do that, though?" asked Cye. He sat down on a metal bench in the dungeon, looking at the floor. Then, he suddenly jumped up on the bench, looking at the stone ground in fear. "Yikes! Rat!"

I looked down and saw a nice sized rat scurrying across the floor. You know, typical dungeon rat. Greasy black fur, red eyes, kinda chewed up tail, one of those jobs. I jumped onto the bench as well, watching it as it quietly disappeared inside a mouse hole.

Sage was watching the rat, too. A wide grin sprouted on his face, making him look oddly like the Cheshire Cat. He looked up and me, the grin only growing as he did so. "Kento, I think I've got an idea."

I looked up. "Is it going to save our lives?"

"Might not, but it could buy us some time," he said, looking down at the rat hole. Sage looked back up at me. "Can you shape shift into a rat and find a way to get outside through the mouse holes?"

I slapped my forehead. Of course! I could shape shift into anything I wanted. Something small like a rat would be a great way to escape! "That's brilliant!" I said. "Just give me a few hours to rest up. I'm still hurting from Trulpa's shock wave." This was true. My head was still ringing from the effects of the attack.

"Take your time," said Sage, sitting back down. "We have four days for you to successfully get out of here In reality, if you escaped just before the time was up we'd REALLY have her going."

"Right," I said. The vision of Trulpa panicking was kind of funny.

"And remain a rat as long as you can," said Sage. "Don't keep changing to human form, it'll be dangerous. When you get out of here every soldier in Trulpa's army is going to be looking for you."

"Unless you impersonate a Warlord or Trulpa, again," said Cye.

I grinned, rubbing my palms together. "I've been waiting to try out my Daria impression for some time, now. This is the PERFECT time to test it! Think about the possibilities!" I said.

"Now is not the time, Kento. Just try to concentrate on getting out ALIVE and NOT making the Warladies look like sluts or bimbos," said Sage. "Rest up. I'll do what I can to help, but after that, you're on your own, soldier."

~

Several hours later, I shape shifted into a nice, white and brown rat. Cye picked me up as I stared at him through beady black eyes. Thankfully, the shape shift hadn't affected my hearing or eyesight (except that everything was now really big), so I could identify everything for what it was. "Kento, I'm going to drop you off at the rat hole, okay? After that, get going!"

I squeaked in response. Once Cye put me down, I scampered forward into the dark, mouse made tunnels. The passageways were littered with rodent droppings, bits and pieces of dried food, and shiny objects that would probably turn out to be coins and pieces of jewelry. I didn't bother with those. I saw a few other rats, all bigger than me, all with oily, black hair, and probably more dangerous in rat form than I was.

Soon, I saw light. I squinted and realized I was at a rat hole that led somewhere outside. I stepped out and looked around. I waddled over to the edge of a balcony and looked down.

I squeaked in amazement. I was looking out at the Under City.

~

More questions, I see. . . many, many questions. . . well, not really.

Musou Misora- The Senshi already KNOW magic. It becomes more evident in later stories, but they know it, all right. I think Rona used her flute once in RSL, but I could be wrong. She'll be using it a lot in the stories after _Dragonia_. 

Iceangel0318- Ryo and Ria (right now) meet up in a story that takes place directly after Dragonia and is only in its earliest stages, but this is subject to change. As for how Rona and Rowen meet? Can't tell you, this is a surprise too good to let out of the bag just yet. Only a few select people know this information and that's because I know them personally or I needed their help.

Keep on reviewing and keep asking questions!

Dixxy


	47. Chapter Forty-Seven

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Forty-Seven: Split Up

~

Note: To all FF.Net readers, there once was a map to go with this and following chapters that explained the city's layout. But, since there isn't anyway for me to upload a picture, you'll have to suffice with just the chapter alone.

~

(Ria)

After stepping out of the portal that Anubis had created, we all found ourselves in the Under City. I looked around, taking in the full effect of the Hell hole we'd emerged in. "This is. . . creepy," said Sara. She bit her bottom lip. "How could anyone possibly live here?"

I agreed with Sara. All the buildings we could see were gray, worn down, and falling apart. Most people (or demons) were huddled around large trash cans that had been lit afire, many of them lying by empty whisky bottles. Windows were broken, lights flickering everywhere we looked, and wails of pain and despair filled the air. There was a prostitute on the corner, getting picked up by a demon man with green skin and pointed ears. The hooker, a human girl with bright, electrifying purple and pink hair, readily stepped into the demon's car. On another corner, two human men were making a trade on drugs and money. At yet another corner, a man was auctioning off what looked like some sort of a weed, probably another drug. The sky was a dismal, purple gray that seemed to highlight the mood.

"Yeesh," said Anubis. He looked around, then gulped. Our friend then pulled out two rolled up pieces of parchment. Maps. "Okay, I've got a couple maps so we can figure out where we're going." We all huddled around Anubis' maps.

"From this map, it looks like we're on the western end of Magical Madman Market Terrace," said Anubis, pointing at the southwestern corner of the map. "That explains all the drug deals and prostitutes."

"So who's going where?" asked Rona. Sure enough, our destination was clear across the map from our current location. "Trulpa's castle is in the north end of the city. Which roads are we taking?"

"Cara is leading Sam, Keisha, and Rona one way while I'll take Sara, Ria, and Tiger Lily," said Anubis. "Cara, lead your group to the east until you get to Bloodthirst Road, then turn right on Gossip Corner. Head straight up until you reach the Thicket of Mystery. I'll lead the other three up Sorceress Street and into the Forest of Pain. Whatever any of you do, do NOT get onto Doomsday Avenue," said Anubis.

"Doomsday Avenue?" asked Keisha. "What's that?"

"That's the largest and most open street in the Under City," said Anubis, pointing at the wide street in the middle. "It's also in plain sight of Magna Wretch, where I can almost guarantee you'll run into a Warlord of Warlady. For this mission, we don't want to attract any attention."

"Right," I said. "Okay, Anubis, lead the way!"

"See you guys once we kick Trulpa's hide!" said Sam, giving us all thumbs up as they walked off. Keisha and Rona also said their good byes as Cara led them off to the east while the rest of us headed north.

Anubis led the way, walking down the streets like he'd grown up there. "The Warlords and I used to walk these streets often," he said. "We'd pick up prostitutes or go shopping."

"Shopping? You?" asked Sara (personally I wanted to comment on the prostitutes, but now was not the time). The smallest Senshi looked skeptical. This was easy to admit, since Anubis hadn't enjoyed the last time we'd taken him shopping. Yes, he was the best dressed Warlord-turned-monk in the known world, but he didn't enjoy the trip there.

"Well, we occasionally needed new clothing or practice blades. And sometimes Talpa sent us out on special errands," said Anubis. He sighed heavily. "Back then I didn't fully realize just how wrong everything I was doing, well, was."

Tiger Lily purred softly as she walked alongside Anubis, rubbing her neck up against his leg. I ran up along her other side to scratch her neck. "But you realize that now," I said. "And now you're our friend."

"What street are we on again?" asked Sara.

"Sorceress Street," he said. "We'll be crossing four other streets before we read a guard house. Then we need to sneak through to the Forest of Pain."

"Forest of Pain?" I asked, wide eyed. _Hmm, let's think about this, Ria. How bad do you want to go to a place called the Forest of Pain?_ I thought to myself. "Why would we want to go there? Sounds painful."

"The trees there are alive and enjoy hitting. Similar to the ones in the _Wizard of Oz_ movie that Sue Lee was watching before this whole situation blew out of control. But by the time we reach the forest I'll have you both armor up to subarmor," said Anubis.

Sara smiled. "Then we go in and kick Dynasty ass?"

Anubis nodded. "Yes, and save the Ronin Warriors."

I looked over to see we were walking past a building lined with glass windows. Inside, demon mannequins were posing in different clothing in some, while weapons were displayed in others. "What the-"

"That's the Under City Mall," said Anubis. "We'll also be passing some other dangerous landmarks. The Jail, Assassin Headquarters, and the Death Rose Gardens are known for danger. We'll also be passing by two residential buildings, the Eye of Newt Estates and Ancient Curse Apartments. I would say that Cara and the others were taking a safer route, but they're passing the Drunken Lizard, a pub, as well as Magna Wretch and the Moaning Ghoul Graveyard."

"Wow, you really do know this place pretty well," I mused. "Anubis?"

Our monk friend turned to me. "Yes, Ria?"

"What'll happen to the boys after we rescue them? Are they going to go back to Japan, or are they going to stay in Boston with us?" I asked. I sighed heavily, thinking about Keisha. "If you ask me, I think that there will be more than one broken heart in the world if they go home."

"I thought it was pretty well established they'd be staying here," said Anubis. Sara and I turned out full attention to him. "You see, everyone back in Japan thinks they died some horrible death because of their disappearance. It would be too. . . awkward, if they just suddenly reappeared after being missing for nearly a year. Thank about. You fall off the face of the Earth for ten to eleven months, then come home. How would you explain to your families where you were without putting them into shock? Anyone who sees them is going to think they're ghosts."

"Won't their families and the other two Ronin Warriors be mad if they find out that they were okay and able to at least say 'we're safe' and they didn't?" said Sara. "If they stay with us for a real long time, and then go home, I think that there's going to be a lot of very angry people in Japan."

"I guess we could have them send them an unmarked letter or something letting them know they're all right, but not ready to come back to Japan," said Anubis. "I'm sure they wouldn't argue with THAT- we just have to figure out how to disguise the postage."

"At least we have that much settled," I said. _Great. Now in addition to leading this suicide mission I'm harboring three illegal aliens that have probably been legally declared dead._ "Now we just have to concentrate on busting them out."

Sara nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, Trulpa's going to get it this time," she said, pounding her fist into her open palm. "We're going to mess her up so bad that her own mother- if she HAS a mother- wouldn't recognize her!"

"You know, as a rule of thumb, the bearers of the Torrent armors are supposed to be quiet and reserved, like Cye. What happened with this one?" asked Anubis, placing a hand on Sara's shoulder.

Sara gave Anubis an undignified look. I just shook my head, laughing. Sara could get a little over-enthusiastic at times. "Come on, you two, we have a mission to fulfill," I said. "Now let's get to work!"

"Yes, ma'am," said Sara, saluting me. "I was looking for a fight, anyways."

"Ants in your pants, huh, Sara?" I said.

"Kind of," said Sara. Then, she cocked her head to the side in confusion. She followed this maneuver by looking down at the denim skirt and boots she wore. "But Ria, I'm not wearing pants."

Anubis snickered before I shot him a look, too. "Both of you just. . . please be quiet. Anubis, try to lead the way. And stay out of fights with Sara." Then, something dawned on me. "You're getting into tiffs with Sara over Cye, aren't you?"

Sara went red in the face while Anubis just stared at me dumbly. _Dead ringer, _I thought to myself. "What, what gave you that idea, Ria? Why would Anubis and I fight over Cye?" asked Sara.

I snorted. "Come on, Sara. You were the one who SAW Kento and Keisha necking a while back. And we've seen that Sage is the only male on the planet who's flirted with Sam and not gotten a punch in the gut as a reward for doing so. Anubis is frightened your going to take his son away from him before he even gets a chance to get to know him."

Anubis stared at the ground. "Perhaps you are correct, Ria," he said. "It's just that I'm only now learning I have a son. Kento's even told me Cye grew up without a father. I, I guess I might feel a bit guilty over not being there for him. I mean, he's my SON. I'm his FATHER. I should've been there for him when he was younger."

I sighed heavily. "Look, because of some screwy turns of fate, you've missed out on sixteen years of Cye's life. You have to get used to that, Anubis. I don't think that Sara and Cye are going to end up being all over each other like Rona and some of her old boyfriends. I'm pretty sure that even if something sparks between the two of them he's still going to have time to have some father-son bonding with you."

"You think so?" asked Anubis.

"Of course! I wouldn't try to take Cye away from you like that. The worst that would happen would be my grandma or one of my aunts in Hawaii insisting that I drag him to Hawaii so they can cross-examine him for small pox," said Sara. "And that would be for about a week to a week and a half at the most."

"Small pox?" I said. "Isn't that disease wiped out or something?"

"You should have seen them when Trevor started dating," she grumbled. She looked up into the dismal gray sky. "Poor Tina Ariani didn't pass their test and was chased out of our house with walkers, lap dogs, and poker chips at her heels." Anubis and I looked at Sara oddly. "What? So I've got a weird family, big deal. Let's get going already!"


	48. Chapter Forty-Eight

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Forty-Eight: Winged Savior

(Keisha)

Our small group wasn't having much luck. 

"You know, logic should have told us that if Cara was BLIND for the past four hundred years, then her chance of having a good sense of direction isn't that good," said Rona. "Face it, we're LOST."

Cara sent Rona a hurtful look. "I'm trying REALLY hard," she said.

"We've been lead down three dead ends in the past hour," said Sam. She put a sympathetic hand on the former Warlady's shoulder. "Cara, look, we know you're really trying real hard, but you probably haven't ever navigated this city on your own before, am I right?"

Cara shook her head. "Well, yes."

"Let us TRY and help you," I said. "If we can figure out a map of Boston, we can easily figure out this place. And besides, Cara. We've been lucky that we've only encounter passed out drunks and that one funny smelling cat. We could run into worse at our next wrong turn."

Cara smiled at me. "All right Keisha, you girls can try," she said, handing me the map. I looked it over. First off, I noticed she'd been holding the map sideways, but I decided I wouldn't mention it to her since Sam and Rona had been mean enough to her already. Course, ever since Kaze they had proved to be a BIT of a problem as far as discipline went, what with running off to New Hampshire after Anubis revealed his darker past. 

"This has got to be one of the simplest maps I've ever seen in my life!" I breathed under my breath. This was true. There were about six horizontal streets and three vertical streets GRAND TOTAL. "There are so few streets here."

Sam looked over my shoulder. "Oh yeah, this'll be a snap," she said. "Okay, looks like we're on the intersection between Darkness Drive and Bloodthirst Road. Oh, we can get to the Thicket of Misery easily, mates!"

"The city's bigger than the map makes it look though. These buildings are huge," said Rona, extending a hand out towards a very, very large building. "Think about it. The roads are about a half a mile across. Try to put that to scale with how big the map is."

"So, it'll take us a day or two," said Sam. She groaned in frustration. "Perfect."

"Okay, I know this is probably going to be a bad idea, but, couldn't we just send Keisha ahead to see what we're up against?" said Rona. "You know, kind of like a scout to make sure the coast is clear?"

"What?" asked Cara. She looked worried.

"She can run really, really fast, she could easily get to the other end in a fraction of what it'll take the rest of us," said Rona. She grinned. "How about it, Keisha? Sound like a plan to you?"

I smiled. "I'll do it."

"But she'll be alone!" said Cara, placing two firms fists on her hips. "You all know how bad this city is, do you really want Keisha to be on her own out there? If something happens to her we'll have no way of even knowing something's gone wrong until it's too late!"

"Oh, I'll run down to there, check it out, and meet you guys wherever we run into each other again. We're talking five, ten minutes," I said. "And I'm FAST. I won't get myself into a fight- I'll just run away."

"Are you sure?" said Sam. "I mean, this place is DANGEROUS like my Aunt Ella's baked beans." Her eyebrows were raised (though, couldn't see one of them) and she looked like she was between surprised and quizzical.

I nodded. "Yes," I said (though I kind of LIKED Ella's baked beans. . . they had just the right amount of bacon and just the right amount of sauce). I took a starting position. "See you guys in a flash!" With that, I took off at my full Senshi speed.

Papers scattered across the road as a dust cloud a mile high rose off of the streets.

~

Once I reached the other end of the city, I looked around. I saw the outside of Trulpa's castle, two HUGE guard houses, and a view of Magna Wretch. I gaped at Magna Wretch. It was an absolutely HUGE building. It was about as tall as the Prudential Building, but had equal proportions to the White House. I whistled at it. I have yet to feel that small in comparison to anything since then.

My attention was distracted by the sound of a familiar voice calling out my name. I turned my head and saw someone running towards me. I froze. Who was it? Who would know me here in the Dynasty? I placed one foot behind me, then saw a better outline of who it was. My eyes brightened in excitement as I finally recognized the person. 

"Kento!" I cried out, running towards my friend. He'd gotten out! He'd escaped!

"Keisha!" he said, giving me a hug as we collided. My much larger partner in arms stood before me in soot-covered subarmor, yet his eyes remained large, blue, and ever-so-happy to see me. "What are you DOING here?"

"Kento, are you okay?" I asked. 

"Yeah, I'm fine, but, what WHY are you here? This place is dangerous!" he said.

"Anubis and Cara couldn't think of another way to get in aside from the Under City," I said, looking up at him. Then, I pulled away from him, narrowing my eyes. "How do I know you're the REAL Kento?"

"Yeah," he said, raising an eyebrow and scratching his chin. Kento proceeded to walk in circles around me, never taking his off of me. "How do I know that you're the real Keisha, hmm?" I looked at him briefly. He gently reached out and touched my forehead. I felt my forehead begin to glow with the symbol of "Justice". "Yup, you're Keisha all right," he said.

I touched his forehead and saw the same symbol light up. "And you're definitely Kento," I said, smiling. Then, I raised my eyebrows quizzically. "How the heck did you get out? And where are the other two?"

"Back in Trulpa's castle. I shape shifted into a rat and went out through the insides of the castle walls," said Kento. "Not exactly the most glamorous escape, but it worked, and it bought us some more time."

"Time?"

"Trulpa wants to bring back Kaze," he said, frowning. My eyes widened. _She can't make them go through that again! That's just beyond cruel! _ "It gets worse. This time, it's going to kill us."

I froze. "K, kill you?"

Kento nodded gravely, his normally cheerful face very sullen and somber. "She's not going to let anything get past her this time," he said. "That's why we have to make sure that whatever happens, Kaze isn't resurrected."

"We wouldn't let that happen!" I said.

Kento frowned. "Keisha, you know that Trulpa's been juiced. She's reached a height of power that most Dynasty overlords would never even DREAM of reaching. It's not like you can just so casually say you can defeat her, because it's not going to be as easy as you girls seem to think."

I nodded. "I understand, but-"

Before I could finish, I heard several echoing battle cries. Kento stepped behind me, a subarmored hand on my shoulder as he looked around with wide, panic-stricken eyes. "Oh no!" I cried. "We're under attack!  
"Keisha! Armor up and help me fight these things off!" said Kento. He stepped away from me to start summoning a spell to fight the Tin Cans that were starting to come out into the open. 

"Hardrock of the Senshi, Tao GI!" I cried, jumping up into my subarmor. Once I was in subarmor, I whipped out my nunchaku and began to swat at the offending soldiers. Kento had joined me, but he was using some advanced magic I didn't know yet. So I continued bashing the Tin Cans senseless.

"Keisha, where are the others?!" Kento asked. The two of us stood back to back, blasting spells and using our weapons to try and defend ourselves against the growing army of Tin Cans. 

"I ran ahead to scout out what we were up against!" I said. I whimpered in despair. "They won't be able to get here in time! If we can't fight them off, we're doomed! Trulpa's going to kill and you and I don't know what she'd do to me!"

"Damn!" said Kento. I heard him cry out as an earthquake erupted over the battlefield. None of the soldiers seemed to be terribly affected by the attack, much to Kento's displeasure. "Fight harder!"

The Tin Cans were swarming around us in numbers I hadn't ever seen before, the shells of evil spirits formed a sea of soul-less minions. "Kento, there's just so many of them! I'm scared!"

"Don't stop fighting!" Kento said. He cried out as he released another earthquake. Still no affect. "We can't hold out much longer, but don't ever stop fighting!" I heard the sound of metal crashing and knew he'd gone back to physical attacks.

"I won't!" I said. But we were both getting tired. I found myself getting punched and kicked a little more than I would have liked to have been. The Tin Cans weren't letting up. Kento and I were doomed. I turned to him, tears in my eyes. "I, I, oh GOD!" I said, embracing him. I had to tell him how I felt. Now. Not later. NOW.

"Keisha?" he asked.

"I, I love you!" I blurted. "I, I'm sorry I never told you earlier!"

"Keisha-" Kento started before we suddenly heard something overheard. We both looked up to see something was flying overhead. "What IS that?!" Before anyone could figure out what it was, the battlefield was enveloped in a brilliant white light. . .


	49. Chapter Forty-Nine

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Forty-Nine: Celeste

(Kento)

It was sometime later that I woke up after the bright flash of light. I remembered opening my eyes and seeing a white ceiling. I vaguely realized that someone had dropped me on a bed. Keisha was lying not much farther from me, her arms wrapped around my chest. I couldn't help but look at her in a new light. Had she just told me she loved me?

I didn't move, not wanting to disturb my partner in arms. She repositioned herself as she continued to sleep, sighing lightly. I smiled. She was pretty cute when she was off in dream land. I couldn't help but smile. 

As I stared, I saw her eyes begin to slowly flutter open. Once they did open, she blinked at me in confusion after pulling her arms away. "Kento? Where are we?" She fell back down onto one of the pillows. "This isn't Trulpa's castle, is it?"

"No, this doesn't look like Trulpa's castle," I said, sitting up. "Everything's much better furnished there. Looks like we're in somebody's apartment, but, question is, whose apartment are we in?"

"Well, maybe we should consider leaving," said Keisha, standing up. She was still a little sleepy looking, but she looked more functional than she had in the previous minutes. "What if someone's planning on turning us in? You'll be killed and me, well, I don't know what'll happen to me but that isn't important right now!"

I gaped. I didn't realize she felt THAT strongly about my safety. "I. . ."

Keisha smiled at me, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. I looked at her in slight confusion as she rubbed my shoulder. "Look, let's try and figure out what's going on before we do anything else, okay?"

"Okay," I said.

"You are safe, Ronins."

The two of us looked over to see a woman standing in the doorway. But she wasn't quite like anything they'd ever seen. Long, flowing pink haired striped with dark blue cascaded over her shoulder like soft satin, big purple eyes twinkling at us. The woman (who couldn't have been much older than twenty) wore a pair of tight jeans and a loose, purple silk shirt. But it was the pair of glistening blue wings that caught our attention. Two big, almost plastic looking butterfly wings with intricate gold and red designs made very small flutters with each breath she took.

"What in the. . ." said Keisha.

"I'm sorry if you aren't familiar with my kind," she said as she walked into the room. The woman looked behind her and touched one of the wings, which seemed to be growing out of the shirt. "I am a Flitteree."

Keisha and I stared blankly at the woman. What was a Flitteree?

The Fliteree woman sighed heavily. "I'll explain my kind in just a minute. But first, I would like you to know who I am. I am Celeste, and to my knowledge I am one of the last of my kind."

"Well, I'm Kento, and this is Keisha," I said. I crossed my arms and looked at the woman. Time to put on a business face and get the facts straight. "Look, could you tell us why you're helping us?"

"Well, aside from the fact that I don't want Trulpa to win this fight, I have a much more personal reason for helping you two and the other Ronins," said Celeste. "Coffee? Tea? You both must be thirsty."

~

After sitting down in Celeste's living room with tea and cookies (I used my crystal ball to see if they were poisoned or not- they were clean) as the Flitteree woman told us why she wished to help us.

"Start off by telling us what you are," said Keisha. "What IS a Flitteree?"

Celeste smiled. "Thousands of years before Talpa, the Nether Realm was a lively, green, and happy place. It was inhabited mainly by two people- the Flitteree and the Amazons. The Flitteree, as you can see, were a winged, fairy like people that fell into two classes- the Elementals, whose wings resembled fire, water, lightening, air, and so on and so one, and the Intellectuals, whose wings held no special properties but whose minds held a high intelligence. I am an Intellectual. The Amazons were a war-like people with some dangerous hunting skills at their disposal. My kind and the Amazons were constantly at war, each of us having different goals. We wanted peace while the Amazons wanted war. In a way we were giving them what they wanted, but that's immaterial.

"Then demons like Talpa and Trulpa invaded the Nether Realm. No one is truly sure where they came from or why they came, but the Amazons pledged loyalty to Trulpa and her brother. Nearly all of our numbers were wiped out, only one stronghold left. My birthplace, Orith. For a few thousand years, the remainder of my people held off against our enemies, keeping Orith under our control.

"When I was very young, only about seven or so, Talpa sent two of the Dark Warlords to wipe us out. This was about sixteen years ago, mind you. It was awful. Tin Cans flooded the streets, impaling and decapitating anyone they came across. The streets were red with blood of my fallen people. I don't know how to this day, but I escaped from my home before they found me. After much running and hiding, I found myself in a crystal shop littered with bodies and broken sculptures. It seemed safe since the Tin Cans had already passed through there, so I hid behind the counter. When I got there, well, I couldn't believe what I'd found," she said.

"What did you find?" I asked.

"A baby."

"A baby!?" said Keisha. "You found a baby?!"

"Yes. He was bundled up in some blankets and laid out in a basket. But he was alive- the Tin Cans overlooked him somehow. I stayed with the baby for nearly an hour until I didn't hear anything outside. Taking the child with me, I flew around the city to see if I could find any survivors. I, I found none." Celeste lowered her head, obviously hurt by the memories. "Because of my age, I knew I would never be able to take care of the baby. I needed to find someone else to do it for me."

"Who took care of the baby?" said Keisha. At this point my partner in arms was hooked on every word that escaped Celeste's lips, absently taking cookies off the tray and putting them into her mouth, chewing on auto pilot. 

"Well, I don't know that," she said. "I found a way into your home world and left him at someone's doorstop with a note. I knocked on the front door, then flew into a tree. I watched as someone opened the door, gasped at the sight of the child, and took him in. Then I returned to the Nether Realm and moved into the Under City, which is where I am today."

"What has that got to do with us?" I asked.

"The Child of Destiny has been born. That means that your generation of armor bearers is known as the Age of Legends," said Celeste. "Each one of you, Warrior and Senshi alike, has an extra power. For the Child of Destiny, being the Child of Destiny is that extra power." The Flitteree woman leaned over, her forearms on her calves and her hands clasped. "Since this is the Age of Legends, I began to wonder if perhaps the child I saved that night grew up to be one of the five Ronin Warriors. The added ability to fly and in the case of the Elementals use wild magic would easily qualify one for the Age of Legends if his heart is true to his virtue. What I want to know is what happened to that child. To my knowledge, he is the last of my kind aside from me."

"So you want to breed with him to restart your species?" asked Keisha.

"No, no, not at all!" said Celeste. "Because Flitterees and Amazons are. . . cousins, of humans, we can breed with them. It's not my species I'm afraid for. I just want to know what happened to him, that's all!"

"Well, how do we know what someone's role in the Age of Legends is?" I asked.

"Easy," said Celeste. "Partner in arms have either the same extra power or completely opposite powers, but there's always a relationship between the two. A good example might be a child born as a vampire and a vampire slayer- they're natural born enemies, yet they're partners in arms and have to work together."

"Then me being a seer isn't some strange coincidence," I said.

"Yes," said Celeste. "Keisha will have some sort of a psychic ability as well, though it might not be the same power you have. Anything that means 'psychic' could potentially pertain to her."

I sighed. "Well, since I'm a seer and Cye is the Child of Destiny, that leaves either Ryo, Rowen, or Sage to be the Flitteree IF he grew up to be one of us. Sad to say but there's no way to tell who it is. Any of them could be him!"

Celeste frowned. "Someday I'll find him. But until then, let's save your friends!"

~

Latest batch of questions has been fired.

Musou Misora: There are sixty chapters in this story, which was explained earlier. Since this is part. . . forty-nine, that leaves eleven more parts (though the last part is an epilogue, so it's really only ten more parts ^__^). There are four stories before Dragonia: _Oh, Lucky Me_, _The Last Amazons, A Tale of Two Torrents, _and _Dark Chocolate, White Diamonds._ The last three are almost pure romance (which some action, of course) and the first is mostly comedy.

Winter: We all know you're loyal to the Senshi stories. 14 out of the 20 reviews for RSL were yours. Oh well. At least I know I have repeat readers now.

Dixxy


	50. Chapter Fifty

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifty: The Trail to the Forest

(Sara)

We made slow, steady progress. From our map, the city looked relatively small, but it wasn't abnormal for one building to be several miles long. It took us a full day to reach Darkness Drive, where we checked into the Eye of Newt Estates hotel quarters to stop for the night. As determined as we were, we wouldn't be very helpful if we passed out from exhaustion, like, five minutes into the fight.

I looked out the window of the hotel, wondering how long it was going to take us to get to the Forest of Pain. Of course, the idea wasn't exactly enticing to me in any way. I mean, a forest of something as unpleasant as PAIN?! I didn't want to get my butt kicked by a stupid plant! _Still, this IS the Nether Realm we're talking about. . . anything could happen, and killer trees in definitely a possibility to consider._

Down on the streets below, activities were still engaging. Mostly muggings and prostitution, but still, they were. . . activities. Was it of much interest to me? Not really. Though I will say that it did sicken me to see it.

"You can't sleep either?"

I turned to see Ria was awake. She was standing next to me, leaning up against the wall next to the window, her arms crossed as she looked down at the city below. "No, I can't," I admitted.

"Keep thinking about Cye?"

I nodded. "Amongst other things. The others, the Forest, Trulpa, you know, the normal stuff," I said. I turned my head away from the window, weakly narrowing my eyes as I rubbed my upper arm. "I just can't believe that they were held captive for a year and now they're back here again. It must be torturous for them. Cye wasn't even free for a full day!"

Ria nodded. Then, she turned her head. "Looks like 'Nubis and Tiger Lily can't sleep, either." Sure enough, Anubis was sitting up in bed, looking over at us. Tiger Lily sat patiently for her mistress to give her the word on what to do. My leader looked at everyone in the room, then smiled, clasping her hands together. "Okay, all who want to just keep moving and screw the hotel, say Tootsie Roll."

"Tootsie Roll?" we all asked in confusion.

"Then it's settled, let's go!" said Ria.

I sighed heavily. "Why'd she have to get us to go THAT WAY!?" I asked.

"I gave up trying to figure her out a long time ago," said Anubis. "Let's just go."

~

So we continued on during the night and well into the next morning, stopping occasionally to take cat naps in alleyways and bushes while one of us stood guard to make sure we weren't jumped by any Dynasty guards. 

When we reached Demon Lane, we could see Trulpa's castle more clearly, which was a towering palace of red and black Japanese roofs and towers. I could see little green-gray dots that I assumed were Tin Cans playing guard duty. But more importantly, we could see the lush green that had to have been the Forest of Pain.

"Doesn't look that dangerous. Why is it called the-" Ria started before she was suddenly bowled over. Anubis and I took to a fighting position until we realized who it was that had slammed into our leader. "Samantha!"

"Ria (pant) Keisha (pant) look out (pant) gone (pant)-"

I held up my hands. "Slow down, Sam, slow down," I said. Then, I realized what she'd said. "What do you mean Keisha ran ahead to look out for you guys and hasn't come back since?!"

"You understood that?" asked Ria.

"I'm fluent in panic-stricken Senshi," I said, shrugging.

I saw Rona and Cara catch up. Keisha's absence only confirmed what we all knew to be true. One of us had disappeared and we had no way of knowing what had happened to her. 

"Did you find anything?" asked Anubis.

"We found several Dynasty Soldier remains and what looks like the aftermath of a battle, but no sign of Keisha anywhere," said Cara. She sighed heavily. "I hope she's all right. Poor kid, she's all alone somewhere in this God-awful place."

"Or in a Dynasty dungeon," said Ria. She looked up at Sam, who was still on top of her. "Sam, as fun as you sitting on top of me is, I would highly appreciate it if you got off of me before my lungs collapse."

Sam got off of Ria, apologizing for crashing into her. "Sorry, Ria, I was scared."

"It's okay, you have a reason to be scared considering we're dealing we a crisis," said Ria, who was busy dusting herself off. "I would say that she was probably bombarded by Tin Cans and while she took a few down, a few got a grip on her and brought her back to Trulpa."

"Not good, not good, not good," said Rona. 

"Well, we don't know that," I said. "And maybe one of the boys escaped."

"Yeah," said Sam. "Maybe Sage snuck around a few guards while he was invisible, or maybe Kento shape shifted into something small and slipped out of whatever holding restraints Trulpa used."

"Yeah!" I said. "We keep forgetting that Sage, Cye, and Kento are highly trained, extremely dangerous, and very ticked off Ronin Warriors, one of whom is the Child of Destiny, all of whom can use Senshi magic. They aren't princesses locked in a dragon's tower or something- they're probably more dangerous than we are."

Anubis smiled. "Yes, that is a plus. But you must understand that Trulpa planned her restraints taking those factors into consideration. The only reason that any of them escaped at all was because Kento pulled away from Trulpa's vortex. If he hadn't done that, who knows what would have happened instead?"

"He would have never gotten the position as the fortune teller, so Sara and I wouldn't have gone to see him to ask for his help on where Rona and Sam ran away to. Unless Rona decided to come home on her own, we wouldn't have known Sam was in trouble," said Ria.

"And we wouldn't have gotten his clue about going North to find Sam!" I said.

"And we wouldn't have known what Trulpa was up to!" said Rona.

"And then when Cale captured me, there wouldn't have been anyone to rescue me, Sage, or Cara from the Temple of Halo!" said Sam. "Who knows? By the time Anubis figured out to use the Staff, we might've already starved or been dehydrated then. You guys couldn't found three corpses there!"

"Yes," said Cara. "But could you stop the what-ifs? What matters now is that Keisha has gone missing and that the other three are still captive. And Anubis? Trulpa didn't know about the extra soul related powers until AFTER they rescued Cye. She would've prepared us for that."

Anubis sighed heavily. "She's probably planned for them now that she knows about them," he said. "Let's get a move on to the Forest already. The sooner we rescue them the sooner we can get back home to the Mortal Realm."

"Personally, I don't see the huge rush to want to go into a place like that, and if it weren't for the fact Sage and the other two are in that awful place I wouldn't be going in there," said Sam.

"Well, if the Forest gives us problems we'll head into the Thicket," said Anubis.

"Wonder why they call it the Thicket of Misery?" I asked absently.

"Actually. . . I honestly don't know that one," said Cara. "Anubis?"

Anubis shrugged. "Let's keep going already!" 

~

We were slowly creeping along the eastern side of a building adjacent to Guard House #1. Anubis explained that it was in there that the empty armors were created and in Guard House #2 where the spirits were placed inside and trained. "Guard House #2 is easily the more dangerous of the two houses, but at that you would be going up against rookies," said Anubis. "Where we are in slightly safer."

"Not by much. Warlords or high commanding officers amongst the soldiers act as inspectors on occasion. I was never one since I was blind, but I did often help train with soldiers in Guard House #2," said Cara.

I looked over at the guard house. I could hear heavy machinery working inside, chucking out what had to be hundreds and hundreds of Tin Cans. Now I knew why her army was so incredibly huge. She manufactured them a dime a dozen. No, more like a dime a million. _Ah, so that's where she gets them . . ._

Yet more importantly, we saw the Forest of Pain straight ahead of us. "There it is," said Sam. The Forest looked, actually, like every other forest I'd seen in my life. Lots and lots of trees. Brown trunks, green leaves, and lots of twigs on the ground. "That's the Forest of Pain?"

"Armor up before going in. You'll all need the protection," said Anubis.

"And you?" I asked, turning to the monk.

"I have the Staff, I'll be fine," he said, cracking his knuckles and narrowing his eyes. "We just have to get in there quickly, get out of there quickly, and then defeat Trulpa once and for all. She must not be allowed to torment our world any longer!"

"And this time we're gonna do it, too!" I said. I was pumped. I was ready. I was MAD. Trulpa was going to deal with four very ticked off Ronin Senshi and she wasn't going to like it very much. "Let's CHARGE!"

"After we take care of the mob of angry Tin Cans, right?" said Rona.

I blinked, and turned around, face to face with, as Rona had stated, a mob of angry Tin Cans. "Um, yeah."


	51. Chapter Fifty-One

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifty-One: The Soul Turner

(Sage)

A day had passed since Kento had left. Cye and I were getting bored. And nervous. Where was he? Was he all right? Had something gone wrong while he had shape-shifted? I tried not to think about it. Kento was our only hope of getting to the Senshi, who were, in reality, the only people who could help us.

Cye and I had resorted to practicing some simple magic to pass the time. I had about a dozen spark balls flying around, lighting the dungeon while Cye had made a lot of bubbles that were catching the light and casting rainbows all over the walls. Overall it was a very pretty effect. Both of us were, in short, pretty nervous, but we were keeping occupied to drive some of the stress down.

SLAM!

Both of us looked up at Trulpa. I extinguished all of the balls in unison and Cye evaporated the bubbles. Our captor looked EXTREMELY ticked off. "Where is Hardrock?!" she demanded, stomping into our dungeon. In response, Cye and I shrugged. "Don't play games with me!"

"We really don't know where Kento is," said Cye. He shrugged. "He left, didn't tell us where he was going, didn't leave a number, and hasn't come back yet. He could be anywhere for all we know."

Trulpa screeched. I clasped my hands over my ears. It was like fingernails on a chalkboard. Yeah, not very creative, but it's the only way to describe that high pitched ear drum killer. Well, aside from that lovely little number. Either way, she was really mad at us now.

"Look," I said, "Kento's probably gone to go and get help, okay? What makes you think that the three of us are going to sit here twiddling our thumbs while we wait for you to kill us and take over the Mortal World, Trulpa?"

"He's in trouble when I get my hands on him!" said Trulpa, not seeming to absorb a word of what I'd said (though truth be told I really didn't care). The fury in her crimson eyes was beyond anything I'd seen before. She was REALLY mad and it was at the point that she was going to break something expensive.

_You're never gonna catch him, even KENTO is too smart for you, you senile old woman, _I thought to myself. _Kento can shape-shift into anything he wants. Anyone you talk to could be Kento and you'd never know it._

"Both of you are to come with me," said Trulpa. She snapped her fingers. "Get up! Now! And no funny business, especially from you, Child." Reluctantly, Cye and I stood up and followed her out of the cell (Cye whispered something to me about a "Kick Me" sign that we don't think Trulpa heard, which was probably in our favor). "Mark my words, boys, I'll have Hardrock brought back here in chains."

"Kento's not that smart, but he's too stubborn to let you capture him," said Cye.

Trulpa turned on her heels slapped Cye hard across the face. I wanted to retort, but I stopped myself. That would only make things worse than they already were. Instead I put my arm around Cye's shoulder, giving him a concerned look as we continued following Trulpa down the hallway. 

"You okay?" I whispered. Cye nodded, rubbing the red mark on his cheek as we came apon a set of tall, golden double doors. Trulpa pressed her hands together and started to chant something. Just from the beginnings of her chant I could feel my stomach begin to turn around. There was powerful magic that kept the doors locked and an even more powerful dark magic beyond them. Cye could feel it too, although he might've felt it even more strongly since he's the Child of Destiny. I'd hate to think how it would have affected Kento or Keisha, what with their psychic powers.

Suddenly, the doors swung open. My eyes widened in fear as I saw what was inside. Inside was a golden gargoyle statue. Just like the one the barriers had been broken in, and just like the one Trulpa had placed us in whenever we had tried to rebel against her. Only it was gold (well duh, I already said THAT) and encrusted with emeralds and rubies. Maybe even a few sapphires. "What the hell?" I asked. Yeah, I know, it's not very Sage-like to swear, but it was the only thing that came to mind. What did Trulpa want with a dolled up gargoyle statue?

Cye was probably thinking along the same lines from the bewildered looked on his face. His eyes were wide in shock and fear as he looked at it. Trulpa smirked, extended an arm out in a very Vanna White way as she introduced us to her machine. "This is a Soul Turner."

"A Soul Turner?" I asked. "What's it do?"

"It sucks out your souls through the pours of your skin, and begins to turn them in a large, magical basin in the center. It turns the souls until nothing is left of them, as it will wear them down. Well, once the soul is destroyed, so is the life, leaving just the body behind. Once that happens, the machine will automatically converge your bodies back into Kaze. The Armor of the Soul will then bond with Kaze and you'll be one demon for all eternity. This machine will be your undoing. No pure-blooded human can stand this. So, you'll all die," she said. "What's left of your bodies will be used to resurrect Kaze and bring him to an unimaginable level of power. This is the end of the line, gentlemen."

Sehkment and Cale suddenly joined us. Without hesitation, the two jumped us and cuffed our hands with some particularly strong shackles after a twenty minute struggle. I'm pretty sure I came close to snapping Cale's wrist and I'm pretty sure I saw Cye claw Sehkment hard enough to draw blood. But in the end, they won. They then dragged us to the Soul Turner and fastened us in, just like the last time we were in a gargoyle device. I almost wanted to cry, but I wanted to have my dignity for whatever lay ahead. 

Trulpa sneered. "You hair such an heir of defiance and dignity Halo. It sickens me." She then laughed and stared me down. She had an almost sickeningly playful look in her eyes that made me want to hurt.

Instead, I chose to glare at her, mustering up as much hatred as I thought was humanly possible. "Kento is still out there, and you can't do a thing to us unless you get to him," I said. "Just you remember that. No Kento, no evil plan."

Trulpa sneered. "I'll get him soon enough. Just look at this," she said, summoning a huge viewing crystal. We saw an image of Keisha, Kento, and strange winged woman walking around some dark, dirty streets. I cocked an eyebrow. Keisha? What was she doing in the Under City? And who was the winged woman? Trulpa suddenly gaped. "Celeste is with them?!"

"Celeste, I know her," said Sehkment. "The last of the Flitteree spores."

I turned to look at Cye. He had the same feeling of bewilderment I did. What was she talking about? What was a Flitteree, anyways? Apparently, Trulpa didn't like them very much, which, for us, was a good sign. 

"Fine," said Trulpa. "Get rid of the Flitteree and bring me the Hardrocks."

"Both of them?" asked Cale. He and Sehkment exchanged looks of pure bewilderment. "But. . . we only need Kento. . . why do we need the girl, too, milady? Are you thinking of adding extra power to Kaze?

"No," said Trulpa. "First off, it is obvious to me that the two Hardrocks are, ugh, in LOVE. It would be interesting to watch her as she witnesses the execution. Then I'll have Kaze kill her so that- wait a minute. What is the Hardrock girl doing here in the first place?"  
"Most likely the traitors brought them here to attempt to rescue the Ronin Warriors," said Sehkment. "I'm sure that if we searched hard enough we'd find the rest of them here, too, trying to find a way into your stronghold."

All right! We might still have a chance at escaping! Now the only thing we had to worry about was Kento, Keisha, and this Celeste person keeping ahead of the Warlords. Cye and I grinned at each other. Trulpa sneered at us before sending Cale and Sehkment off. She then turned back to us. Her red eyes were glowing in a deep crimson hue that kind of creeped me out, but I tried to keep my cool. "Your little Hardrock friends and Celeste are no match for Cale and Sehkment," she said. "So I'd just wipe those pathetic little smiles off your faces."

I clasped my hands together and hoped that we'd get rescued.


	52. Chapter Fifty-Two

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifty-Two: The Forest of Pain

(Cara)

Never have I ever seen anything as disgusting as the Under City in all of my years (of which you know have many). The days when I used to walk these streets with Cale or one of the other Warladies to shop or go out to eat seemed so far away and distant. Was this what I walked through? I had always thought the Under City had been a green, alive place! Not this dreary, dark, and dead place!

We had just finished off the latest batch of soldiers and we were FINALLY ready to infiltrate the Forest of Pain. From there, it was highly unlikely we'd be followed. "Well, here goes absolutely nothing," said Ria. 

Rona sighed heavily. "Actually, that term is highly misused, due to the fact that if we lose or get killed then not only are our lives lost but that leaves the Mortal Realm with its pants down, allowing Trulpa and the Dynasty to take it over. Even IF Wildfire and Strata are still out there."

"Shut up, Rona, we've got to get going," said Sam. 

I smiled. Sam seemed to be generally worried about the boys. I smiled at the thought. No doubt about it one of them was Sage. He was cute, and he seemed to care about Sam considerably. Was she returning these feelings?

"Now we have to dart past the guard house and we'll be at the fence. Then we have to climb and jump it, and then we're in," said Anubis. He smiled sarcastically at us. "Any questions?"

"Oh fun," said Sara.

"Toughen up," said Ria. "We can take this."

"Says you," I said. "That's not a pleasant place to go. The trees can lash out against you, and lurking in the shadows are beasts of unimaginable horror. Hopefully we won't encounter too much, though."

Rona gulped. "Sounds pleasant."

"Look, we don't have much time," said Rona. "Yeah, it'll be pretty tough in there but think about it. The Ronins and maybe even Keisha, now that she's disappeared, are in there! We have to save them! They're our friends!"

Sam bit her lip. She looked nervously from the forest and back to us a few times before nodding. "She's right. We do have to go in there. Trulpa used them to make a dangerous weapon once out of them, who's to say she won't do it again?"

"Well, as long as she doesn't have the Jewel of Death we should be okay," said Anubis, digging into his pocket. "She knows that it would quadruple her latest plan's success possibility of a victorious outcome. . .where is it?"

"Where's what?" asked Ria. Then, her eyes widened. "You didn't. You just didn't, Anubis. Because if you did, I would have to break the barrier of the Wildfire armors myself and then use the Wildfire sure-kill on you. You did NOT loose the Jewel of Death!"

"I was sure I put it in my pocket before we left. Damn it, someone must've stolen it," he said. Anubis scratched his chin as he looked up into the sky. "Or, it got stolen before we left and that was a disappearing decoy."

"Great, I told you to lock it up!" said Rona. "Now what are we gonna do?"

"Look, if we're lucky, some stupid goblin pick-pocket took it and doesn't know what it is. That means we'll have time to go look for it AFTER we rescue the boys. If not and Trulpa does have it. . ." Ria started. She didn't want to finish the sentence.

"Let's get going. On the count of three we'll all make a run for the fence and work on jumping it," said Anubis. We all nodded, getting ready to take off for the tall wooden fence that blocked us from our current destination. "One, two, THREE!"

With that, we all began to run for the fence. "Whatever you do, don't stop running!" said Ria. As if on cue, several guards poked out of the guard house and began throwing spears at us. Hundreds of years of training saved my hide, but the Senshi had less than a year of training. I heard Sara yelp out and looked back to see her laying on the group, a spear impaling her leg. Sam had stopped her help her, trying to defend them as well as heal her friend. Ria and Rona hadn't noticed and were already over the fence with Tiger Lily and Anubis. I was torn between helping them and going over myself.

Sam looked over at me. "Go on ahead of us! We'll catch up! If not. . . just, just go!" she said, throwing a guard over her shoulder. I obeyed her command and leapt over the fence in a single bound.

The others were waiting for me. The girls were already in subarmor, Anubis in the Ancient's robes. "Where's Sam and Sara?" asked Ria. "Didn't they make it over the fence? Didn't they?"

"Sara was hit by a spear. Sam stopped to defend and try to heal her," I said.

"What?" asked Rona. "We're going in without them?"

"She said they'd try to catch up," I said. Anubis bit his lip. "I know, I know, it looks bad, but we have to keep going. Trulpa's not interested in killing the girls. Yet. She's most likely more liable to kill me and you, Anubis. We both betrayed the Dynasty and that can't be something she's happy about."

"Cara's right, we have to hope that they get away and that we can save everyone else," said Ria. "At worst they'll get captured and tossed into a dungeon. Knowing Trulpa, she'll want to toy with them before she kills them, and she's got too much on her hands right now to 'play' with any extra captives. Let's get moving."

We started to head off into the woods. The woods looked, at first glance, like any other woods. Lots of trees, kind of dark, seemingly peaceful. But once you looked at the purple and yellow mushroom growing at the roots of the trees and listen to the inhuman screeching high above in the branches, you knew the forest was full of evil. But after ten minutes of walking, nothing had happened.

"Ow! Ria, stop poking me!" Rona shouted unexpectedly.

"I didn't poke you!" said Ria.

"Then who did, Ria?" asked Rona, placing a hand on her hip as she gave me the Stink Eye. I watched the girls argue and then noticed what looked like a leafy snake wrapping itself around one of Rona's ankles. 

"Rona! Your foot!" I cried. Rona looked down and shrieked, causing the vine to tighten itself. It pulled her to the ground and began to drag her. We followed, the vine only going up in speed every time we caught up.

Then we saw the source of the vine.

"Oh my God, that's got to be the BIGGEST Venus Fly Trap I've ever seen!" Anubis said, his eyes wide with disbelief. Sure enough, a huge Venus fly trap was pulling Rona towards its razor sharp teeth.

"Now we know what happened to the talking plant from _Little Shop of Horrors_," said Ria, trying to lighten the now very tense situation (though I wasn't sure what this Little Shop was and why it was owned by Horrors). "That's it, I've got to do something!"

"Any ideas would be helpful! I DON'T WANNA DIE A VIRGIN!" Rona cried.

I didn't see the big difference in whether or not she died a virgin. Anubis grumbled at the comment but went to try and free Rona, only to have himself caught in one of the vines. He put up a considerably better fight, but several more vines whipped out to tie him down.

"I can't use my sword here. There's no way I could possibly cut all the vines quickly enough without getting caught myself," I said. Then, I saw the ticket to our freedom. The five glistening throwing stars that lined Ria's arm. "Ria! Your Chinese stars! You can control them! You can get five, six, maybe seven at a time!"

"I, I'm not very good with them," said Ria, her face turning red in embarrassment.

"Just do it!" Anubis said, struggling with a vine that was trying to strangle him. 

Ria looked around nervously, then, lifted the arm containing the throwing stars. She closed her eyes and the five stars- red, green, light blue, orange, and dark blue- began to glow. All five shot off of her arm and began to slice at the vines that held Anubis and Rona captive. The plant couldn't keep up with Ria's weapons, allowing Rona and Anubis to break free. I used that chance to kill the thing with a black lightning storm. After a sparking black show of electricity, the thing was dead.

"Let's just try and get through here without running into anything else," begged Ria. She sighed heavily, looking back the way we came. "I just hope Sam and Sara get through here all right."

"They'll be all right. I know, I'll wait here for them," I said. 

"Are you sure?" asked Rona. "I mean, you'll be alone-"

"Roar!"

"Looks like Tiger Lily wants to stay, too," said Ria. "All right, you two stay here and keep an ear and an eye out for Sam and Sara, okay? If you don't see them within the next few hours, come after us with Tiger Lily."

"You got it!" I said, giving Ria a thumbs up. Tiger Lily and I watched as Anubis, Ria, and Rona headed towards the looming sight of Trulpa's fortress while we took the hard task; waiting.

~

Question time!

Iceangel0318- About the winged boy? Sorry, I can't tell you that one, you'll just have to find out yourself. As for Keisha and Kento, yeah, it is cute. Now we're just waiting for Kento to say something on the subject.

Though none of you really care about this. . . I GOT THE DVD TODAY! YIP-EE!!

Dixxy


	53. Chapter Fifty-Three

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifty-Three: Battle on Doomsday Avenue

(Keisha)

Kento, Celeste and I had left Celeste's apartment nearly an hour earlier and had started walking along the eastern sidewalk of Doomsday Avenue (Anubis would have killed us). Celeste had retracted her wings, so she hardly looked like the Flitteree she really was. Kento had been provided with some street clothes, since the bright orange and white subarmor would attract some very unwanted attention. Basically, we blended in pretty well (except for me- we couldn't do anything about my ethnic background).

We could see Trulpa's castle looming ahead, a giant balcony that must have been used for Trulpa to gloat the centerpiece. We could also see the monstrosity that was Magna Wretch from the front. Still, we had a mission.

Kento and I were walking next to each other in an almost awkward silence. Ever since I'd blurted out that I was in love with him, we hadn't spoken much since leaving Celeste's place. It seemed kind of. . . weird. And to top it off, I hadn't a clue if he felt the same way. I mean, yeah we've kissed, but a kiss just doesn't mean as much in today's world as it did thirty years ago. I was so confused.

"You two seem unusually quiet," said Celeste. "Nervous about the fight?"  
I briefly exchanged a look with Kento and both of us immediately looked back at Celeste, not so much as half an answer between the two of us. We weren't nervous about some dumb old fight- we were born to fight and we'd been trained to deal with all the stress and anxiety that comes with being a Ronin.

Celeste just smiled. "Ah, I get it. Not sure what to say about Keisha's little comment before I saved you? Kento, you're surprised at the remark. Keisha, you can't believe what you said. Well, I can see it in you both that there's most assuredly something there, you just aren't ready to admit it."

Neither of us said a word for the next ten or so minutes. The silence was shattered when a horde of Dynasty soldiers came trampling from out of the palace, led by two Warlords, Cale and one of the Venoms. I screamed, Kento yelled, and Celeste summoned her wings and flew upwards. "Get ready to fight for your lives!" she cried, pulling some sort of a gun out from behind her.

Kento and I transformed into subarmor and immediately began to cast spells and take down Tin Cans. Somewhere in the midst, Cale and (presumably, due to the male voice) Sehkment were barking out orders on how to attack. I just concentrated on taking down the Dynasty soldiers, but I wasn't having much luck. They were just coming and coming. Eventually, I sensed an ax coming down to strike me down, but I couldn't react quickly enough. enough. 

Lucky for me, Kento did. He twisted the arm of the Tin Can off, wrapped an arm around my waist, and jumped, bringing us both onto a small perch of a street light. I looked up at Kento, who just smiled before sending a wave of rumbling earth over the crowd of Dynasty soldiers. I joined him, taking down more. NOW we were in business.

"AAHHHHH!"

I looked up and gasped. A few flying youja guards were giving Celeste quite a beating. Our friend wasn't having much luck in fending them off. Even with her weapon helping her, they were still winning. Two guards held her back, the Flitteree woman struggling against them. Before I knew it, three Nether Spirits appeared out of no where and began to chant. A small blue portal opened up. Celeste screamed as the guards threw her in. Once she was gone, the Nether Spirits sealed the portal. "CELESTE!" I cried.

"Keep fighting!" said Kento. "That was just a portal- all they did was kick her out of the Nether Realm to get her out of the way. If anything she's safer wherever she went then she is her. DON'T TURN YOU BACK!" I believed him and knocked a flying youja guard over the head with one of my nunchaku.

We fought wildly. Kento was tossing Tin Cans left and right as they tried to climb the street light while I created more and more earth waves. But still, they kept coming. Kento went back to the waves with me, but it still wasn't enough. We concentrated harder and harder but they still kept coming. Our fight was getting more and more futile. I was getting frightened. If they captured Kento, he might die, and I didn't want to think about that possibility.

Soon, Cale and Sehkment were apon us. Cale raised his hand and the Tin Cans stopped. They stopped fighting, stopped coming, stopped moving. All stood at attention, waiting for their Warlord's orders. "Good," said Cale. He turned his attention to us. "Kento of the Hardrock and Keisha, Hardrock of the Senshi, your time is up. Empress Trulpa requests you both in her fortress immediately. I would suggest you come peacefully."

"Bite me, you jackass," I said. Kento gave me a surprised looked. I shrugged.

"Snippy tongue, dark one," said Sehkment. He folded his arms as he stared us down. "Just come along now and make your ends easier. If you go quietly, you won't go as painfully as we had originally planned."

"We aren't going to surrender," said Kento. "We're going to fight right up until our dying breaths if that's what it's going to take." He narrowed his eyes. "If it weren't for the fact that I know you've been brainwashed. . . I don't know what I'd do to you!"

"Fine then, if that's how you want to play. . . DAIS! DARIA! NOW!"

Before either one of us could react, a giant, wet, and sticky spider web net fell on top of us, bringing us to the ground. I panicked, trying to claw my way out, but only succeeded in getting myself even more tangled in the web. Kento had the same luck and was looking so. . . forlorn. So defeated. He was frightened, a look I'd never seen in him before. The Tin Cans around us began to laugh. 

I felt sticky arms grab me and pull me close to the body it belonged to. I looked up to see Kento's tear soaked face looking down at me. "I'm sorry, Keisha. I'm sorry I couldn't stop this."

"Don't, don't blame yourself," I said as the Tin Cans lifted us up and threw us into the back of a dark wagon. I felt the sticky stuff fade away, leaving us free to move again. Like we'd have the privilege in the coming days, though. . .

The wagon started to move, bumping and chucking all the way. Kento took my hands, squeezing them. "I. . . I. . . Keisha. . . I, I love you, too," said Kento. I could hear in his voice that he was fighting back another wave of tears. _He knows he's going to die, but he's not ready yet, _I thought. "I'm sorry I couldn't admit it earlier, and I'm sorry I had to admit it like this."

I could feel my own tears begin to form. We hugged, letting our emotions take control. "I, I don't want it to end like this," I said. "I don't want to loose this world. I, I don't want to loose the Mortal Realm. And, and I don't want to loose you. I know I've found my soul mate. I don't think that I could bear it if I lost you this young."

"I'm so sorry. . ."

~

For the first hour of the ride to Trulpa's castle, we just held each other, each of us occasionally crying, both of us were knowing what was supposed to come. Kento was going to die and I was probably going to follow soon after. It just wasn't fair! I loved him and now I was going to loose him forever?

It wasn't until something very unusual happened that I began to think otherwise. 

We had been making our slow progress in the silence only broken by tears and sobs when Kento suddenly grew very quiet and very calm. "Kento?" I asked. His body had gotten strangely relaxed. "Are you okay?"

Kento's eyes slowly opened, but instead of seeing the gray blue I was used to, I saw a milky white color. I nearly screamed. "The Demon Empress will fall at the hands of those whom she treated worse. The Sword of a Fallen Warlord shall aid the three in their fight for revenge. . ." he said in an eerie monotone before he fell over. 

"Kento!" I cried, catching his head in my lap. Kento slowly blinked and looked around, confused. His eyes had returned to their normal color and it didn't seem as if he recollected any of what had just happened.

"What happened?" he asked. "How. . . how did I end up in your lap like this?"

"You went into a trance and said something about a prophecy," I said. "' The Demon Empress will fall at the hands of those whom she treated worse. The Sword of a Fallen Warlord shall aid the three in their fight for revenge.' What did that mean?"

"I don't know, but it sounds like something's going to interfere with Trulpa's latest scheme," said Kento, still looking generally concerned. He sat up and looked at me, placing his hands on his thighs. "Maybe there's still hope."

"I hope so."

"So do I." He held me tightly, kissing my forehead. I turned my head up, tears flooding my vision. I tilted my head up and we shared a second kiss, knowing it could be the last one for either of us. I felt his tears mix with mine, his fingers carefully running through my hair. I savored the moment, knowing it could very well be the last kiss either one of us ever had.

Click.

It took us less than a second to pull away from each other and dry our tears. Four Tin Cans came in, three of them restraining Kento while the last one took me by the shoulder. "Say good-bye, Hardrocks, this could very well be the last time you see each other," said one of the Tin Cans (I could tell which one). The three holding Kento escorted him out of the wagon. He sent me a forlorn look as he was led out. 

"I love you," he mouthed to me before he disappeared into a swarm of Tin Cans.

"Kento . . ."


	54. Chapter Fifty-Four

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifty-Four: The Long Wait

(Sara)

It hadn't taken long after I was hurt and Sam stopped to help me that the Tin Cans captured us both. There was hardly a struggle. We were just put in a prisoner's cell, where we waited (and Sam healed my leg) for something to happen. It wasn't even an hour later that they threw a hysterical Keisha into our dark prisoner's cell. We traded stories about what happened and knew that the next few days were going to be a living Hell for all three of us.

Our Hell was a tall, cylindrical room with about two or three stories worth of steps leading to the door at the top. If it weren't for Sam's light ball we would have been in pitch black darkness. The walls were wet and occasionally we heard an eerie dripping in the background. It could have been water, but it could have been anything else, too. Slime, pee, blood, poisons, you know, that kind of pleasant stuff.

Keisha seemed the most hurtful. There wasn't a doubt in any of our minds that she and Kento had feelings for each other and this just proved it. Especially after she told us about what happened after they met up when she went to scout ahead for her group. It burned me to know that this was what got the two of them to admit their feeling for each other, knowing that they might not live to get to say it another time. Even when Keisha told us about the prophecy we still weren't convinced our chances had gone up very much. What if it was a prophecy that wasn't due to come true within the next few days? What if it was due in the next hundred years? That wouldn't help us in the least bit. Because of the uncertainty she held, she didn't speak. It was an eerie quiet.

Sam looked worried, too, but not nearly as much as Keisha was. Yeah, she definitely had at least a crush on Sage, but she was probably confused at the feeling. Sam had never let a man get close to her like this, and now it looked like she could all of a sudden trust one. Sam kept on coming up with some very cryptic and at times disturbing observations that I was definitely not in the mood to hear.

Me? I still wasn't sure how I felt about Cye. Yes, he was cute. Yes, he was sweet. But did I have the same feelings my fellow captives seemed to be feeling? I wasn't sure. I didn't know him that well, he was the son of another of my friends, and we didn't exactly get off to a great start. Okay, it was a horrible start, but still, I was probably more confused than Sam. Was he a friend or more than that?

The three of us were left with a painfully long wait. Trulpa still needed a few more days to fully activate whatever it was that she was going to use to kill off the boys. Out of all my time as a Senshi, those were the longest days of my life. So long that I can't remember how long we were in there. I was later told it was about two days, but at that point in time we were so. . . distressed, seconds lasted for hours, but a day could have passed in a blink of an eye. That was how badly our sense of time had been messed up.

"You know that Trulpa's probably gonna have Kaze kill us, too, you know," said Sam from her seat at the bottom of the steps. This caught the attention of both Keisha and I, but Keisha remained quiet from her position on a stone bench (For those who care, I was sitting on the floor with my back up against the wall).

"Why are you being so cryptic?" I retorted. "Look, we have to have some sort of faith!" I said, standing up. "Anubis, Cara, Ria, Rona, and Tiger Lily are all out there! There's still a chance that we could pull this off!"

"But Trulpa has the Jewel of Death. We don't know how she got it, but she has it, and she's going to use it to kill the boys," said Sam. She lowered her head. "It's over. We fought hard. The Ancient chose the wrong ones. Again."

"Well," said Keisha, finally speaking up, "Celeste told me and Kento that because Cye is the Child of Destiny, then we're in something called the Age of Legends. We ALL have something extra special about us. We just don't know what eight of those special things are, since Cye is the obvious one and Kento is a seer. Even if Trulpa kills the boys and us, there's still Rowen and Ryo. Maybe they've got something really strong up their sleeves and they can kill Trulpa."

Sam's eyes brightened. "You're right," she said. "Maybe, maybe be some miracle the mix of the boys' extra things will cause whatever it is to backfire or cease to work." She stood up, laughing. "Keisha, you're a genius!"

"Yes!" I said, jumping up. "That's the spirit! We still have a chance!"

"Yeah!" said Keisha. "Maybe Kento's prophecy will come true. Maybe, maybe Rowen and Ryo- those are their names, right?- are going to figure out that there's still a chance they're alive and bust into the Dynasty!"

"Or maybe Trulpa or Brenamon will screw up and it'll end up blowing THEM sky high!" said Sam excitedly. She laughed. "Heh, I would PAY to see Trulpa and her lackeys get blown sky high- especially Cale."

"Or maybe Ria and the others will save us and Anubis will use the Golden Walking Stick for once!" I exclaimed. "C'mon, the guys have told us about the kind of things they've seen it do, maybe he'll do something neat with it."

Keisha laughed. "We can still get out of here!"

"I don't think so, Senshi sluts."

"You know, that term really doesn't apply to us since we haven't even slept around, unlike you probably have," said Sam, turning to Trulpa with a deep hatred in her eyes. The evil empress had entered out prison cell and was standing at the top of the steps leading down. In retort to Sam's comment, the evil empress just laughed.

"This seems oddly familiar. I do believe in my brother's second war with the Ronin Welts he had a Hardrock, a Torrent, and a Halo captive," said Trulpa. She held up her hand and suddenly the room was replaced with a huge hologram. We were all standing on the roof of a house, probably around the size of Mike's house, maybe a little smaller. There was a gorgeous view of a lake, which wasn't as gorgeous since it was reflecting an evil lightning storm.

Below us we heard the sound of a teenage boy shout something in Japanese. An echo of the voice of a girl responded and the sky was suddenly lit up with a hologram of the inside of a huge dungeon. In the center of the cell were Nether Spirits dressed in blue, all sitting in bubbles and chanting around a large structure consisting of three gargoyle faces with the mouths open. The teenager below us and a few other voices (a small child, a woman, and another teenager) were saying something else, but we couldn't make it out. I registered the word "Talpa", knowing it had to do with Trulpa's deceased brothers.

"Oh my Lord, the guys!" said Sam, pointing at the structure the Nether Spirits had swarmed. Inside each mouth were Kento, Sage, and Cye. The voices below us cried out their names, the smallest demanding something. Then, everything went haywire. A devastating surge of power began to flow through the boys, causing them to cry out in pain. Keisha looked ready to cry, Sam was speechless, and I felt like I was ready to hurl. I watched as Cye, Sage, and Kento all screamed in agony. Then, the image faded away, the hologram as well. All three of us were shaken by the experience.

"That, my pathetic little Senshi, is the day the barriers were broken. You do remember that pleasant experience, don't you?" said Trulpa.

Sam turned to Trulpa, a deep anger surging in her eyes. "Go rot in Hell," she said.

Trulpa shook her finger and made a clicking noise with her tongue. I decided to take my stand, getting very angry with our captor. "How can you do such a thing? Why are you showing us this!?"  
"This, my ladies, is very similar to what you'll be witnessing in a few hours. A very similar structure is going to be used to revive Kaze and kill your friends. A Soul Turner. It'll suck out their souls and leave the lifeless shells to be shaped into my monster."

"No!" said Keisha.

Trulpa raised an eyebrow at Keisha. "You will be the one experiencing the most pain. You and Kento undoubtedly have a common bond in the fact you're soul mates- no doubt about that now- and you'll be the last one I'll have Kaze dispose of. It would have been better if you'd taken the time in the wagon to do something more than cry and kiss. If you know what I mean."

"You perverted bitch," said Sam, ready to take a swing at Trulpa. I held her back.

"I just have one more thing to ask before we leave," said Trulpa. She turned to Keisha, then started to advance on her, her eyes narrowed and arms folded. "What is the prophecy you were talking about?"

Keisha's eyes lit up. "You're afraid of it, aren't you?"

"No I'm not! Your little boyfriend isn't singing to me, so I thought maybe you'd like to say something about it," said Trulpa. "How's about it? Tell me about your little prophecy, Keisha."

Sam quickly got us into a huddle. "Should we tell her?"  
"If it's a prophecy then she can't do anything about it, because it's already been set in stone, so to speak," said Keisha. She sighed heavily. "Still, why was Kento being so secretive about it?"  
"Probably just taking one last chance to annoy her before she tries to kill him and the others, or maybe he's just stalling for time," I said. "I say we don't say anything about it and drive her nuts in the process."

"Why?" asked Keisha.

"I don't see what she can do to make us talk. This is our only ace and it's not like she can say she'll kill the guys if we don't talk, because she'll do it anyways," I said. "The best thing to do keep quiet or bluff it."

Meanwhile, Trulpa was getting impatient with us. "You know what, I don't care what the prophecy is anymore! You're all coming with me. GUARDS! The final countdown has begun. . ."


	55. Chapter Fifty-Five

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifty-Five: Ghosts

(Rona)

"Glad we're outta there," said Ria, looking up at the castle. The fortress, from our position on the ground, was REALLY big and easily dwarfed Magna Wretch. "Okay, so where's the entrance?"  
"Over here," said Anubis, leading us to a pair of brown, wooden doors. He slammed his fist over some sort of a lock, breaking it. "These doors lead to one of the old ballrooms that's never used anymore."

"They have ballrooms in Trulpa's fortress?" I asked. "But I thought it was mostly torture chambers and laboratories. Why would they have a ballroom in the Dynasty if everyone's so bent on evil?"

"Yes, there are such places. You do realize that there could be many, many people in that fortress at once, so there has to be entertainment, rooms, and facilities provided," said Anubis. "Talpa did the same thing. There were all sorts of game rooms, swimming pools, bars, and wardrobes that it was enough to drive a man crazy, but we'd been given immortality and had time to investigate. Well, me and the other Warlords, that is. Back to the ball room. Anytime there was a major victory, there would be a ball at either Talpa or Trulpa's castle back when they were allied. Or for birthdays, Christmas parties, or anything they felt was qualified. At victory balls, they usually executed any surviving prisoners of wars, a Ronin or two occasionally mixed in. The Hardrocks from the generation of Halos that hid the Jewel of Death were killed at such a ball. The other pairings were killed at other times, but those two were saved for a special occasion."

"Creepy," I said. "Let's just get in and bust everyone out." The three of us pushed on the doors and they creaked open. We cautiously stepped inside, a cloud of dust greeting us. Most of us coughed.

The ball room was in ruins. Curtains were shredded and dangling off of broken rods. Tables were smashed and long spoiled food was sprawled across the floor. The chandelier was broken in several places, a few of the crystalline shards on the floor. Two skeletons lay motionless in shackles on the wall adjacent to the grand banquet table.

"Those are definitely the remains of the two Hardrocks," said Anubis. "Satoshi and Kasumi. They were engaged to be married, I believe." Ria and I both felt cold shivers creep up our spines. This was too real. Something about this room was so eerily real, crawling up our spines like a slithering snake or some other hideous creepy-crawly.

"What's that light?" asked Ria. She was looking at a strange orange hue near the door that would probably be our exit. She started to walk towards it, Anubis and I following her. We didn't know what that was! What if it was a trap? Ria could get hurt! Before we got close enough to see what it was, the chandelier crashed the floor behind us. Ria and I screamed and Anubis yelled at us to shut up.

"That, that light saved us," said Ria. Her bright green eyes were bewildered as she stared at the chandelier, now in thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of pieces on the floor. 

"Oh, it was probably the light playing tricks on you," I said. "I mean, crystals like in the chandelier have a tendency to reflect the spectrum. Maybe that type of crystal reflected an orange beam.

"But there isn't enough light in here for a crystal to do that!" said Anubis. "And if my memory serves me correctly, those crystals shone skulls when hit with illumination. They most certainly didn't create orange glows."

I gulped. VERY creepy. "Let's get going." We left the ballroom in a hurry and continued down some pretty drab and dreary hallways. These hallways were very dark and cold. The stone walls made it look scary and most of the rooms were either prisoner cells or torture chambers. One room was an old possession room, which I couldn't get away from fast enough. I still have nightmares about my possession.

But that wasn't the important thing. Now it was my turn to experience the freaky. I heard two voices singing down the hallway. Getting curious, I started to pick up the pace as we passed by some empty and blood-stained torture chambers. Ria and Anubis ran to catch up with me. We all narrowly avoided several blades that had fallen from the ceiling. Sheets like they use in magic shows, daggers, swords, battles axes, you name it, it attacked us.

"Booby traps!" said Anubis. We stopped and looked at the destruction behind us. Anubis tipped up the "rice bowl hat" and analyzed the destruction. "Amazing that they worked so well after years of not being inspected. Rona, what the hell were you doing?!"

"I, I heard voices, but they're gone now," I said. "Maybe I'm going crazy."

"No, Keisha heard a voice and it turned out to be Kento. But still, this is different. This is getting really creepy. How much farther do we have to go before we get to Trulpa? Because fighting her is starting to sound really appealing," said Ria. 

"I think the ghosts of past Ronins are helping us," said Anubis. 

"GHOSTS!?" Rona and I leapt into Anubis' arms, shuddering and whimpering.

"The ghosts of the past RONINS. They're HELPING us," he said. We laughed sheepishly, then got down off of him. Anubis stared at a room with a huge, sharp machine that looked like it would hurt. "That was where the Stratas of that generation, Kiona and Takeshi, were killed during an interrogation. Anubra and I were administering the questioning."

I went white at the comment. I could almost hear the screams in the back of my mind. Memories that my armor carried. "So, you're saying that the people who died in a certain area of a castle are helping us?" said Ria. 

"Yes. It's likely the Hardrocks were the orange light we saw, and the Stratas were likely the voices Rona heard," said Anubis. "That would explain a lot, actually. They probably want revenge on Trulpa, and perhaps they believe by helping us they can finally rest in peace."

Suddenly a buzzing pale blue hue whipped by my head. I heard a young girl's laughter as a slightly older one of a young boy joined her. They both stopped in front of Anubis, as if they were investigating him. "Miyoko and Rimiko. The children Ronins," said Anubis. 

"The children Ronins?" asked Ria and I in perfect unison. We both looked at each other with wide eyes and nearly laughed at the ironic happening. Ria bounced back more quickly with the jinx, though, and I owed her a soda.

"They were nine and twelve when they accepted their armors," said Anubis. The two nodded and then rammed into a vase, knocking it over. "Looks like they've become some form of poltergeist."

"What were their armors?" I asked.

"Torrents. Same generation as I spoke of before."

The young girl's ghost giggled and shot down a hallway, the other following her. We followed them, trusting the pair of young ghosts. They led us past traps, around hazards, and through long hallways. All through the way, we passed by some hallways that were worse for wear. Curtains ripped, lamps and vases broken, tables smashed, and mirrors shattered. Yet, most of the damage looked recent. There was very little dust in the area. I briefly thought some sort of a monster lived down in this wing, but then I remembered it was haunted by two very playful poltergeists.

We finally came to the edge of our fifth secret passage (which was through a slashed painting of Trulpa) and the two spirits took the form of two children. Sure enough, they were only about nine and twelve. The girl had bright, puffy pigtails and the boy had long, shoulder length hair. Both had large eyes and looked fairly happy. They said something in Japanese, which Anubis responded to.

"What did they say?" I asked.

"They said that even though I was a stupid, ugly poop-head, they forgive me for what I did and that we'll run into the ghosts of Sakkaki and Miyamoto, the Wildfires of that generation- HEY!" said Anubis. The ghosts snickered, sticking their tongues out at him. Anubis growled dangerously. The two ghosts thought this was hysterical and fell to the floor in fits of hysterical laughter.

"Thank you," I said. The two giggled, turned back into balls of light, and sped off. We heard a lamp break and a curtain being ripped up. "Sheesh, the ghosts of the other Ronins must have a ball taking care of those two."

"They might be the reason this wing has been left alone for so long. Those two came back to haunt Trulpa as poltergeists," said Anubis. He raised an eyebrow. "Of course! This is near the place where they died! Of course they're going to trash it!"

"How did they die?" asked Ria.

"I believe that Sehkment and Vanessa poisoned them and may have molested them as they died," said Anubis. He shuddered. "My stomach turns when I think that I once participated in similar activities."

"It must be hard to live with what you've done," I said.

Anubis nodded. "You have no idea how much I regret what I have done. It's not easy to live with at all, and while I know there's no way I can truly make up for my past crimes, I will spend the rest of my life doing as much of that as I can."

"That's good to know," I said.

"Miyamoto," Ria said softly. During out conversation, the ghost of the past Wildfire woman had appeared. She had long, raven black hair and almond shaped eyes. She simply turned around and began to lead us down more hallways, these ones not it such horrible disarray. Obviously the children Ronins hadn't gotten their poltergeist paws on the vases and lamps in this hallway. It was lined with dust (Ria sneezed a lot) and looked undisturbed. 

At the end of the hallway stood the transparent form of Sakkaki, who nodded to his partner in arms and signaled Ria to come closer. He was standing next to a heavily boarded up oak door, which he pointed to. "What does he want?" I asked.

"Burn," he said to Ria in a ghostly echo.

"I understand," said Ria, nodding. She raised her hands and concentrated. The door burst into flames and our path was cleared into hallway that was in much better condition. Ria nodded and bowed to her predecessors and led us into the main hallway. Anubis orally thanked the spirits as we continued on our way.


	56. Chapter Fifty-Six

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifty-Six: It Begins

(Cye)

To say the least, Sage and I were pretty upset when Kento was brought in a few hours before the four days were up and even more upset when we were informed that Sam, Sara, and Keisha were captured. Kento looked worse for wear when he was brought in and it sounded like he was being rough handled in some sore spots while the Tin Cans were shackling him into place. He had a black eye, a few small cuts, and his subarmor was a little dented. Trulpa, who was overseeing this, left once they were sure none of us were escaping. The soldiers went with her, following her like loyal puppies.

"Kento are you okay?" asked Sage.

"I've been better," he said miserably. "Trulpa had me in a torture chamber for a few days."

"Not another gargoyle statue!" I said.

Kento sighed. "Nope. I was given Chinese water torture for about six hours, then I was tickled, then they used one of those pulling back breaker things-"

"Don't say anymore," I said. I really didn't want to picture him going through all of that. "Why?"  
"I had a little bit of a prophecy," said Kento. Both Sage and I gaped, but he probably couldn't see us. "When they caught me and Keisha, we were tossed into a wagon, and after a while Keisha said I went into a trance and said something, which, I don't remember. Yeah, she told me what I said but I figured it be best Trulpa doesn't know what it is."

"Why's that?" I asked. "Can you tell us?"

"No, she wants to know what it is, but I can tell you something really good. Keisha and I ran into a Flitteree woman named Celeste. Nice lady. Saved our butts the first time we got attacked," said Kento.

"Yeah, we heard Trulpa ranting about the woman," I said.

"Well, she told us that before Talpa wiped out the rest of her species, she was able to save one baby who she dropped off at a door stoop in our world. Because Cye is the Child of Destiny, we're in something called the Age of Legends, where all of the Ronins of our generation have an extra power. Mine is being a seer. Celeste thinks that her baby grew up to be one of the Ronin Warriors.

"So since I'm the Child of Destiny and you're a seer then it has to be Ryo, Rowen, or Sage, if anyone?" I said. Kento nodded. "So how is that going to help us if we don't know who or even if the baby is one of us?"

"Well, if it helps any, my prophecy didn't say anything about a Flitteree. Talked about Trulpa dying and something about the sword of a fallen warrior. Question is, who's going to fall and why is their sword important to us?" asked Kento.

We didn't get a chance to discuss it further, since the doors opened at that moment. We all shut up and watched as Trulpa came in, followed by the reaming Warladies and Warlords. Keisha, Sara, and Sam were with them. I was surprised to see Sara and Sam with them. How'd they get captured? Trulpa grinned at us evilly.

"Well, well, well, it seems as if our hour has come, now hasn't it?" said Trulpa. 

"Oh just shut the hell up, Trulpa, its not over until it's over," said Kento. 

"You seem awfully confident, Hardrock. I'm going to love watching you scream almost as much as earlier," she said. Keisha had a look on her face at this comment that was a mix of confusion and burning anger. She shot a pained look at Kento. Since I couldn't see him at that moment, I wasn't sure if he returned it, though something told me he had.

"In just a matter of minutes the procedure will begin. These young ladies will get to witness your execution and your transformation into Kaze. Then Kaze will kill them one by one! Isn't this exciting!?" said Trulpa, clasping her hands together.

"No, not really," I said. "Quite frankly, we're just waiting for you to screw up so we can get the bloody hell out of this damned thing and blow your pathetic hide to kingdom come."

"High hopes won't do you any good here, Child," she said. I turned away, holding my head up high. "You do realize you're all going to die slowly, painfully, and oh so mercilessly!"

CRASH! BANG! "ROOAARRRRRRR!!!"  
"The calvary is here!" Sara cried. I turned to see Cara and Tiger Lily had jumped through a conveniently placed stain glass window. Both looked really mad. Trulpa screamed and ordered the Warlords and Warladies to attack. The three of us watched as the battle began to commence, Trulpa trying to get to the controls while the three Senshi, tiger, and ex Warlady fought against some impossible odds. 

CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG!!

"And calvary number two is here, and just in time!" Sam said after delivering a lovely roundhouse to Sehkment. Ria and Rona jumped into the battle and started to pummel the Warladies. My father was trying to get to Trulpa to stop her from activating the controls.

He was about two seconds too late. Trulpa flipped the switch.

Suddenly, the entire room flashed bright white. 

(Anubis)

"Come on, I hear commotion down this way," said Ria. We were getting closer to wherever it was that Trulpa was holding Kento, Sage, and Cye. At the end of the corridor was a set of tall doors. Sure enough, that was the source of the commotion.

"Then that's where we're going," I said. Right then, my parental instincts had kicked in and a burning anger had enraptured me. It was anger like none other I have ever experienced, even after everything I had seen, done, and been through.

Trulpa had my kid and she was going to die.

CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG!!

The door burst open onto a fight scene. Kento, Cye, and Sage were watching from the inside of a Soul Turner as the fight braved on. Kento looked a little worse for wear, but other than that they all looked fine. The other three Senshi, Cara, and Tiger Lily were in a rather nasty fight with the Warladies and Warlords. Tiger Lily had thrown Cale into a wall. Sam was using Sehkment as a punching bag. Sara was being double teamed by Osiris and Anubra (oddly enough, Sara was winning). Keisha had kicked Kamusa AND Dais in the unmentionable place and was now fighting with Kayura and Daria. Cara was battling it out with Vanessa. 

But where was Trulpa?

Rona and Ria went into the battle, Ria taking Kayura away from Keisha and Rona assisting Sara by knocking a blow to Osiris. Sam looked up and smiled at us. "And calvary number two is here, and just in time!" she said (I later learned that Cara and Tiger Lily had been the first "calvary").

Only one person was missing. That was when I spotted Trulpa struggling to get to the controls. "Oh no you don't!" I said, darting after her. Trulpa saw me and grinned, wrapping her fingers around the switch.

She pulled it.

~

Yup, I'm a cruel little Dixxy for leaving you guys with this cliffhanger. But don't worry- the next update to this story is going to wrap everything up in a neat little package. FOUR MORE PARTS TO GO!

If I get enough reviews (hint, hint) I might be tempted to post it later tonight. If not. . . I could leave you guys hanging for a few days, maybe a week, who knows? Depends on how evil I feel. But if you review. . . I'll see what I can do.

Dixxy


	57. Chapter Fifty-Seven

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Battle Ensues

(Sam)

Once Cara and Tiger Lily joined the bought, Keisha, Sara and I took the opportunity to escape from the Warlords. I was immediately challenged by Sehkment, the green haired Warlord of Venom. I gladly accepted as we began to fight.

Sehkment got the first few blows in the fight. The man was fast. I received a few blows to the stomach and a nasty bruise on my arms, but I'm the one who usually uses my legs in battle. I leapt up, tornado kicked him a few times and won myself the upper hand in the battle. Go me!

Sometime while I beating the crap out of Sehkment, we all heard the ringing of the Ancient's staff and a door exploding. I looked back briefly to see that the rest of our happy little party had gotten inside. "And calvary number two is here, and just in time!" I yelled out, delivering a really hard blow to Sehkment's head. Needless to say he was out like a light, leaving a revitalized Dais to attack me next.

Soon, the entire room was enveloped in white. Something was happening.

Once the light cleared, we realized that the walls of the room had disappeared and we were basically on a very, very large balcony outside of Trulpa castle. Trulpa was at some sort of a control panel and all three of the boys looked panicked- she'd thrown the first switch. She was about to throw another switch when Anubis sucker punched her.

"Go Anubis!" said Ria.

"Sweet!" said Sara. Instantly, we all crowded around Anubis and Trulpa, just like a school yard fight, and started to cheer them on as they got into what is quite possibly the ultimate bitch fight of all time.

Hair was being pulled. Swears were being yelled. Both were rolling on the ground. Clothes were being torn. Clawing was being ensued. The Staff was beating Trulpa senseless. Anubis was missing a sandal and the rice bowl hat had flown out of the battle area when a breeze picked it up. The fur was flying.

"This is better than porn!" yelled Sehkment (how he revived himself is beyond me). In retort, Rona backhanded Sehkment and those two got into the brawl, Rona not hesitating to use the kick-him-in-the-crotch method of fighting. Sehkment was out again, but another tangle had happened. Now Sara and Vanessa were in a fist fight, Ria was throwing some nasty fire spells at Daria, and Cara was beating Cale senseless, which, I guessed was partially from the fact that he'd raped her, so he kind of deserved it.

No one saw Osiris slip away and started pushing buttons. 

I caught a glimpse of him and immediately dived bombed him, but not before he hit the next switch, which caused the Soul Turner to rise about a hundred or so feet above us on a large metal rod (in a weird way, it resembled the Space Needle). I punched Osiris and kicked him away. I had to keep everyone away from that control switch and then figure out how to get the boys down!

At that moment, a few dozen Tin Cans came into play. I continued to defend the console as Tin Can after Tin Can after Warlord after Tin Can attacked us. Spells were being fired everywhere. The Staff was still smacking Trulpa senseless. Sara's wild battle cries were echoing across the balcony. Rona's flute was calling up some nasty whirlwinds and twisters (Dixxy's note: See? Rona DOES use her magic flute!). Tiger Lily was roaring with each Tin Can she demolished. Things were beginning to get really, really good.

I had knocked down another Tin Can when the REAL problem arrived.

Nether Spirits. Hundreds apon hundreds of Nether Spirits, both Trulpa's pink ones and Talpa's old blue ones came down apon us. Sara quickly reverted to role as Nether Spirit Slayer and began casting some nasty Nether Spirit spells. A few shots from above me told me that Cye was trying to help, too. But there was no way the two of them could hold them off for enough time so someone could stop the Soul Turner.

Finally, a huge array of painful, black light flooded the arena. I cried out in pain as the dark energy began to envelop me. It hurt really bad. I braced myself as I felt a sharp kick to my side. I looked up and saw Trulpa looming above me, the Jewel of Death hanging from out of her clasped fist. "Nice try, brat."

"No," said Sara. She was lying on the ground, Vanessa with her foot on the small of her back. "We couldn't stop it." The Warlady of Venom stepped on Sara's back, causing the small Hawaiian to cry out in anguish.

"Kento's prophecy was wrong," Keisha whimpered. Daria kicked her in the side, but Keisha didn't seem to notice. Her soul mate was about to be murdered. Considering the circumstances of the murder, she might die, too. "They really are going to die."

"What prophecy?" asked Ria. She was fighting against Anubra's fist to stand up straight. "Screw some stupid prophecy, we have to get up and fight! In case you haven't noticed we've got BIGGER problems!"

Anubis, who was out of reach of the Staff, was struggling to reach it, but Osiris, stepped on his outstretched hand. The former Warlord winced in pain. "If we had the Jewel of Life. . . this might have not happened," he said. The look of defeat in his eyes was immeasurable. He was about to loose the only son he had. One that he barely knew, and one he'd only known about for a few days.

Rona was busy trying to raise her flute to her lips, but she couldn't gather enough breath even play a single note. Kayura and Kamusa laughed as they both kicked her in the ribs. She winced, then lost consciousness.

Cara was looking defeated as she lay on the floor, her blue eyes glistening at her former mistress. "You can't do this," she said. "I, I won't- AHHH!" Cale stepped on her arm, swore at her, and pulled back her pony tail. Cara, too, fell limp against the ground.

But all hope WASN'T faded out. 

Using what little strength I had, I reached out and grabbed Trulpa's ankle and pulled her out from underneath. Trulpa yelped in surprise before giving me a kick square in the middle of my forehead. I yelped out in pain as I threw a hand to my forehead. It hurt pretty badly.

Tiger Lily threw back her head, roared, and tried to attack Trulpa. Apparently, the Jewel of Death had failed to harm her, so she was ready to pounce. Trulpa raised up a dark magic shield and Tiger Lily flew backwards, smashing into a wall. Yet the cat bounced back and stood on all fours, growling and hissing with a pure, animalistic rage that I'd never seen in Tiger Lily. Course, we hadn't seen her attack much before this point, either (Mostly she drinks out of the toilet and eats steaks. That and [according to Ria] occasionally comes home with the back bumper to a car). 

"Say goodbye to your precious Ronin Warriors, little brats," said Trulpa. She pressed a few more buttons, then threw the final switch.

"There's no turning back now, brats," said Trulpa. Little by little the tall rod leading up to the Soul Turner began to glow in segments, about one every ten second. From my point on the ground, it looked like it would take about five minutes for the energy to reach the top. I had time try and revive myself and shut the thing down. 

I tried to pull myself up and attempted to reach Trulpa's control panel. But, the demon empress noticed me, reached down, pulled me up by my pony tail, and threw me into a wall. I cried out in pain as the others cried out my name. 

I opened two groggy eyes and saw the pace of the energy were getting faster and faster. Any second now the energy would reach the top. Sage, Kento, and Cye would die. Kaze would be revived. Our entire world was doomed.

Suddenly, it did, the Soul Turner was enveloped in a brilliant golden light. Keisha looked ready to cry, Sara was speechless, and I was barely conscious. We'd lost. It was over. Kaze was going to come back.

That was when the whole Soul Turner exploded.

~

Well, this was the last chapter with a real cliffhanger, so. . .

Okay, here's why I posted Chapter 57. A LOT OF PEOPLE UPDATED FICS AFTER ME. A LOT OF PEOPLE. Meaning? My fic gets shoved down so far that no one sees it. That's the key to getting your stories read here at FF.Net- update often in small chunks or else your story will be lost amongst the middle pages never to be seen again. I'd say seven to eight stories were updated from the time I last updated to time the I would've started getting reviews. Which kinda stinks.

So here's a new cliffhanger to torment you guys.

Dixxy


	58. Chapter Fifty-Eight

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Truth

(Sage)

Watching the fight from up high as we were was murder, knowing we couldn't help. Cye was trying to help Sara with the Nether Spirits, but it wasn't doing much good. Things were looking bad, especially after Trulpa pulled out the Jewel of Death. All of the Senshi were pretty much down for the count. It hurt me to see Sam had tried to do something and was ultimately thrown into a wall. 

"This is it. We're doomed," said Cye.

"Don't say that, the prophecy may still hold true," said Kento. I could barely see him out of the corner of my eye. "Keisha told me that I said 'The Demon Empress will fall at the hands of those whom she treated worse. The Sword of a Fallen Warlord shall aid the three in their fight for revenge'. Just keep your fingers crossed."

I had about all of my fingers and my toes crossed. 

Suddenly, the energy hit. I screamed in pain as the energy began to envelop me. Strangely, I couldn't hear Cye or Kento screaming, which, I remember is mostly what I heard last time we'd been in a situation like this. But they were oddly silent.

That was when the whole thing exploded.

I was sent several thousand feet skyward like I'd been fired out of a canon while I watched as Cye and Kento fall gracefully to the ground. Why was I doing something so different? Why were we even alive? Shouldn't it have killed us? What was going on?

I finally stopped my ascent. For a few seconds, I hung motionless in the air. I was close to breathlessness. I was so high up in the air! Everything below me looked so. . . small. Then I began to fall. Really, really fast.

I screamed. From this height, there was just no way I could survive the impact of hitting the ground. I was going to die anyways, but at least my soul would survive and go to heaven. My life began to flash before my very eyes. Scenes of me playing with my sisters as a child, scenes of me training with my grandfather, and scenes of me with my parents passed through my head.

The most soul stopping scene came soon after. . .

~

_It was late at night. I was in my room, packing clothing, money, and a food supply into my backpack. I zipped it up, patted it, and threw it over my shoulder. I bit my lip, and left my room. I closed the door behind me, took in a deep breath, and prepared to make my last good-byes._

I poked my head into my sisters' room first. Both of them were asleep, surrounded by whatever stuffed animals they had at the time. They looked so peaceful, so naïve. I didn't want to leave them, but I didn't have much of a choice. Satisfied with that last glance, I left their room and started for my parent's room.

Just like my sisters, my parents were asleep. My mom had her sleeping mask on and my father had a nasal strip across his nose. I smiled, thinking of how funny they looked. I stepped inside and gently kissed my mother good-bye. Fighting back tears, I left their room. Only one room left.

When I reached my grandfather's room, I found the light on and my grandfather writing something in his journal. He looked up at me, his eyes wise with age and his hair gray with time. "Sage," he said.

"Grampa," I said. I looked down at the floor, where my foot was tracing circles on the hard wood. I lifted my head to see my grandfather had pulled a chair up beside me and pat on the seat. Not wanting to disobey him, I took a seat.

"I know you're leaving tonight," he said. "Is this true?"

"Yes," I said. I started to wring my hands with nervousness.

"I won't question why you're leaving, but before you go, there's something I must share with you, Sage," he said. He stood up and turned to me. "Wait. This is something you're going to need to know." I waited, gripping the seat of the chair as he left the room. Minutes passed and he returned with a box.

"What's in the box?" I whispered.

Grampa opened the box, where he showed me several official looking documents. "This box is where your mother keeps all of the important papers in this house. The mortgage, her marriage license, receipts of the major purchases, you know, those kinds of papers," he said.

I wasn't sure what he was getting at until he hand me a big envelope with my name on it. I looked up at Grampa in curiosity. What was he up to? "Grampa? What's in this folder? And why does it have my name on it?"

"These are all the documents that pertain to you," he said. "Open in."

Carefully, I opened the envelope and pulled the papers out. I saw several medical forms from past physicals and tests I'd taken throughout the years. "Grampa, what do all of these. . . oh my God," I said as I reached the last stack of papers. I held them up, my eyes wide with shock. "Grampa, are, are these what I think they are?"

"They are, Sage. They're your adoption papers," he said. He took my hands. "Your mother found you outside when you were just a baby. We brought you to the authorities, but they never found your parents or a reason as to why you were left with us. Your birthday is a date that the doctors think you were born on or around. After a few weeks of no new evidence, the courts allowed you to be adopted."

"You mean that all this time I've been living a lie?!" I said, standing up. "You've all lied to me this time!? You let me think that I was just like the rest of you when I'm really not!? Is that it!"

"Sage, listen to me," said Grampa, placing a hand on my shoulder. Tears streamed down my face as I looked at him. I sniffled, wiping the tears away with the back of my sleeve. "You needed to know this. I've wanted to tell you for years, but your parents wouldn't let me. Since you're leaving, I thought that now would be a good time. You're very mature for your age, Sage, and I know you can handle it."

I held my head in my hands. "But Grampa. . . I don't know who I am anymore."

"You have always been Sage Date. You are Sage Date. And you will be Sage Date until the end of time. It doesn't matter that you don't share our blood. You're still family and we all love you," he said, hugging me. Once the hug ended, he gave me a pat on the back. "Get going, young man. I can sense you've got quite the adventure ahead of you."

~

The knowledge of my adoption was one of the hardest things I ever had to face. I had been living a lie for fifteen years of my life. I had known about my adoption for a year, and I was grateful to my grandfather for telling me about it.

Too bad I'd never get to thank him in person. . .

Suddenly, my decent stopped. I was about where the Soul Turner's main unit was when I was bathed in a strange, yellow glow. I felt a little queasy, my body feeling strangely numb for a brief moment. The numbness faded, and I felt something very, very strange. Especially behind my back. I looked behind my shoulder to see what it was that was bothering me.

Behind me, two glossy wings were flapping in the wind. Several lightly bolts had shot out of my back, connecting the shiny green skin like material that kept me aloft. Little by little, I could feel myself controlling the wings. It was as if I'd suddenly grown two new limbs. It was as if they're been inside of me for my whole life, just waiting to come out.

That was when I knew.

I was a Flitteree.

Down below, not everyone was pleased with this information. "I thought Talpa had the last of those stupid winged brats killed!" Trulpa screeched. Amidst her screaming, I heard Cye and Kento cheering and jumping for joy. 

I got brave and tried to get used to my wings. I did a few "loop the loops", a few mid-air somersaults, and started diving up and down. The feeling was incredibly! I was flying! I had wings! I felt so free and cheery!

Trulpa was raising the hand with the Jewel of Death. She was going to use it again. I dove down and grabbed the Jewel before so much as a spark was emitted from it. Trulpa cursed at me.

"Give that back you little winged snot!" she said. I dove back down, grabbed the belt of her dressed, and dropped her from about, oh, a hundred or so feet. She was going to feel THAT one in the morning. If she lived.

Apparently she did since she got right back up, her hair a mess and her eyes glowing. _Drats, knew I should have gone for a thousand feet, _I thought, snapping my fingers in frustration. I looked at the Jewel of Death, threw it up, and tried to use some of the Flitteree magic Kento had told us about to try and destroy it.

A bolt of lightning shot from my fingers and disintegrated the evil talisman. Trulpa wailed in agony at the sight of the Jewel of Death's demise, while my friends and allies cheered. The Warlords all swore, knowing that the odds had just taken a rather drastic change.

Trulpa screamed out. "KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!"

Kento and Cye reacted fairly quickly and put up some strong shields against everyone before starting to ward off the Warlords and Ladies. I helped by flying Cale, Anubra, and Dais far away enough from the castle so they wouldn't be able to make it back in time to help Trulpa, but it wasn't enough. We were still getting badly beaten, and the Senshi weren't in any shape to help us. I tried some of my old Halo lightning bolts, but the Warlords were faster than that. Then I reverted to my newly discovered Flitteree magic, which was a little faster, a little more concentrated on positive energy, but not as powerful as the Halo magic. But it looked like it was my only choice.

Tiger Lily was helping, too, taking down a serious number of Tin Cans. Her style of fighting was a lot like White Blaze's style of fighting- steals a spear, then runs past the soldiers so they were cut in half. Primitive, but very effective. 

Still, we needed something more. "Okay, Sage, think. What next?" I said to myself as I watched the battle raging below. I had to figure out what Kento's prophecy was talking about. The sword of a fallen warrior. Well, what swordsman died who had a significant sword? Sword, sword, sword-

Of course!

"The sword!" I said, snapping my fingers. When Talpa had captured the three of us, he'd created a really big and powerful sword using our armor powers. Then he'd given it to one of his minor warlords, who attacked Ryo and Rowen. Kento, Cye and I sent our powers to Ryo after Rowen gave us the signal, we formed the Inferno, and trashed the loser. So I needed that stupid sword! But where was I going to find it?

"Trulpa, you idiot," I said, looking into a window. The window led to some sort of a museum of all sorts of relics from past battles. On display right by the window was the sword and, apparently, the helmet of the demon who'd used it.

I flew over to the window, smashed it open with one of my wings, and went inside. I took the glass case off of the pedestal the sword was laid out on, picked it up (It was bigger than my Halo no-datchi) and dragged it out the window and flew back into the middle of the battlefield. 

"What one Earth are you doing with THAT!?" asked Kento after tossing Daria over the edge of the balcony. She vocally swore at the fact she'd landed in a large wagon filled with manure. "That was Daala's sword! It's dangerous!"

"It's the sword you were talking about in the prophecy," I said. "It has a connection to all three of our armors, and the person who used it died. Don't you see? This is the key to the whole prophecy!"

"Well what's it gonna do!?" Sara cried, ducking as both Sehkment and Vanessa tried to punch her from opposite sides. They punched each other, each knocking the other out. Sara stood up once her work was done.

I looked at the sword, and narrowed my eyes. "I'm going to call up the Armor of the Soul and use Trulpa's own weapon against here, that's what I'm going to do with it!" I said, holding the blade at the ready. 

"Are you insane?!" asked Ria. "It's evil!"

"No armor is good or evil, just like Anubis keeps telling us," said Sara. "What the armor does is a reflection of the person controlling it. Since the boys will be controlling it, we can count on it to be good."

"So how do we activate it?" asked Cye.

I narrowed my eyes. He was right- how did we use it? I shrugged and made a few fancy slashes at the air. Apparently, it worked, because Cye and Kento changed into glowing orbes of light and flew up at me. I closed my eyes and tried to prepare myself.


	59. Chapter Fifty-Nine

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Armor of the Soul

(Sam)

I didn't recognize the sword Sage had taken out of Trulpa's fortress, but apparently, they were going to use it to try and gain the Armor of the Soul and use it against Trulpa. Well, that's what I was able to get through my really clouded head. I was kind of groggy during that conversation and only heard bits and pieces of it. After all, I'd been slammed into a stupid wall.

Sage made a few very well thought out and precise slices in the air with the sword. Kento and Cye followed that up by changing into the glowing orbes that Ronins use to summon powerful armors. _Well, so far they'd doing good,_ I mumbled.

The sky was a very strong white color, but my Halo armor allowed me to see what was going on. Beams of green, orange, aquamarine, and yellow light were swirling around the winged Sage like fireflies on a sugar high. Piece by piece, the armor of the soul formed onto Sage over his green and white Halo subarmor. A long, black shoulder guard accompanied by a dark blue breast plate and a black back plate fitted onto his torso, the back plate having to form around his wings. A large black hip guard locked itself over his waist as black shin and foot guards armed his legs. A blue, pointy-dome shaped helmet with a crescent moon for decoration took its place on his head. The big sword fell into his hands and struck a pose as the symbols for Hardrock and Torrent formed on the shoulder guards, the Armor of Cruelty symbol formed on his belt, and the Halo symbol imbedded itself onto his chest.

The Armor of the Soul was under Sage's control.

I heard Sara and Ria whoop out in joy as Sage gracefully landed in front of a completely dumbfounded Trulpa, his wings flapping ferociously. "But, but, but, but, but, but. . . how!?"  
"You know what Trulpa? When you treat prisoners like animals, then they'll react like animals when they want revenge," said Sage. I noted that his voice was echoing, almost like a big of Cye and Kento's voices were mixed in with his. It was similar to Kaze's voice, only it didn't sound evil.

Trulpa laughed very coyly, backing away from the slowly advancing Sage. "Now, now, now, let's be reasonable about this, gentlemen," she said. "I'll be happy to leave your world alone if you promise not to kill me."

Sage laughed. "Reasonable? You kidnapped us from our friends and held us captive in your Dynasty for nearly a year. You brainwashed the three Dark Warlords and Lady Kayura. You used us for your Kaze experiment, not caring it could have eventually killed us. You used one of us two help you retrieve the Jewel of Death so you could use it to control another one of us. Then you capture us again and tell us you're going to repeat the Kaze experiment, but this, time, to kill us. No, we're pretty reasonable in killing you."

Trulpa screamed and barely ducked from the sword. She took the brief escape as a chance to summon a spell, which she flung at Sage. I screamed as the black ball of energy hit. He was sent flying into the opposite wall (Dixxy's note: Wow, I really like sending people into walls in this fic, don't I?). My mood brightened right up when he stood back up, shook it off, and raised the sword, ready to attack again.

I felt Ria run up to me. I turned my head to her. "Can you stand?" she asked.

"Yes, why?" I asked. 

"We're trying to get everyone to a safe place and your help would be much appreciated," said Ria. I nodded as I stood up on weak knees. Ria and I worked together to get Cara over to the "safety zone" (which was right now a big chalk circle with Keisha sitting in the middle of it) while Sara pushed and Tiger Lily pulled Anubis to the circle. Rona was slung over Tiger Lily's back.

Once inside the circle, Keisha cast a spell that created a fairly large diamond dome. A few air holes were poked along the bottom so we could breath. I took that opportunity to start healing myself, then, once I had my head injury under control, I went to help the others try and regain consciousness.

For the next several minutes I concentrated on healing injuries and reviving people who were unconscious. Very boring, not what you came here for. You want to read about Sage (and the other two) kicking Trulpa's hide.

Once we were all healed enough, we started to watch the fight. At that point Trulpa was a bit roughed up and was looking like she was receiving a long deserved butt-kicking. And I couldn't think of anyone who could have done it better than Sage, Cye, and Kento.

"Finish her off!" Ria cried. 

"C'mon, guys, you can do it!" yelled Keisha.

"Beat her like a red-headed step-child!" yelled Rona. We all turned to her. "What? I saw it in a video game strategy guide (Note: Heh, that was in the Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete Instruction Manual's mini-strategy guide)."

"Come on, guys, sock it to 'em! Hit her! Hit her! Screw chivalry, she ain't no lady!" screamed Sara, who was jumping around as she threw out her support. "Destroy her! We're behind you one-hundred percent!"

I cupped my hands over my mouth. "Kill that old bitch already!" I said. "Finish her off! She doesn't deserve to live! Do whatever you find necessary, just take her out with the rest of the Dynasty trash!"

"I don't think they know how to execute the sure kill for that armor," said Anubis, looking worried. "If they don't figure it out then we might be in trouble. The whole point behind mega armors is the sure kills that go with them!"

"Then why don't we use the Inferna?" asked Keisha.

"We're all hurt, we need our armor powers to try and recover," said Rona.

Ria narrowed her eyes. "Sam, fully heal up me, Sara, and Anubis. We have time to do that much healing, and then we can use Sara's armor and the Staff to form the Inferna. She and I are in the best shape and we'll need the least amount of healing."

"Brilliant!" I said, healing up the last of the trio's injuries. Keisha dismissed the shield long enough for Ria, Sara, and the Staff to form the Inferna and let Anubis and the now powerless Staff back inside. 

Rona, Keisha, Anubis, Cara and I watched on in awed silence. The Warlords and Warladies were watching from the sidelines, knowing that the battle was WAY out of their league. Ria and the boys (who, I know figured out, were seemingly sharing a brain and Sage's body, and it wasn't Sage doing everything) were trying to double-team Trulpa but they weren't having much luck. She was using Talpa's energy in addition to her own and was doing some serious damage to both of them.

Still no sign of the ultimate attack.

Then, suddenly, the armor began to glow as the boys lifted the sword. "SOUL STRIKE FORCE!" I swirling candy-cane like beam striped with green, blue, orange, and yellow shot out from the tip of the sword as they brought it crashing down. 

Ria took that time to use her own sure kill. "INFERNA RAGING FLARE!" The tall pillar of fire consumed Trulpa the same time that the candy-cane soul attack smashed into her. The rest of us watched in awed stupor as Trulpa was incinerated into nothing but a charred skeleton. Hair still came out of her skull, she still had eyeballs, and a few of her organs remained intact. Yet, despite the fact she should have been dead, she was alive, and she was still able to move. The blackened skeleton lifted a hand to the eyes and a strange, inhuman scream echoed across the battle field before the skeleton disappeared. The Warlords also went with her. 

Once the attacks wore off, Keisha dissipated the shield and we all ran over to the boys. "Sage!" I cried, giving him a friendly hug. He returned it, though rather weakly, I must admit. He put an arm around my shoulder, silently asking for support. I gladly gave it. "You're alive! You did it! You trashed Trulpa! She's gone for good!"

Sage laughed humbly, scratching the nape of his neck. "Aw, it was nothing."

"A big fat nothing my ass!" said Rona. "You guys were great!"

Cye smiled. "We owe you girls. We might've not been able to stand up to Trulpa much longer if you guys hadn't stepped in and formed the Inferna. And you guys saved us before that, too. How can we ever repay you?"

"Well, let me think about this one," said Ria. "Let's see, had you guys not defeated Talpa before we even learned how to use our powers, we wouldn't even be here right now, so in a way, we're paying YOU GUYS back. Plus, you're our friends, it's our job, and as far as I'm concerned you guys probably would've gone the same for us at this point, right?"

"Wow, Ria, that was really sweet of you to say," said Sara. "That's a definite change in character for you. Normally you would've made some sort of mention of money, slavery, or blackmail."

Ria shrugged. "That's because I haven't pointed out that Keisha and Kento are necking over there yet. And now I have. See? I'm still my lovable, sick minded self," she said, turning her head. Sure enough, the two Hardrocks were embraced in one of those kisses you only see at the end of movies or in crowded airports. Hugging, smooching, eyes closed, fingering through the other's hair, so on and so on. 

"Aw, how cute," said Cye. "Kento's got himself a girlfriend."

Apparently the two heard this, looked over at the rest of us, blushed profoundly, and sidestepped away from each other. Ria laughed. "Aw, we don't mind you guys going out or anything, just make sure that you name your first born after me and we'll be all set."

Keisha and Kento stared blankly at Ria.

"I take back what I said about Ria earlier tenfold," Sara grumbled. "She's just as loud, perverted, and observant as ever." She looked at Cye questioningly. "Your Wildfire isn't that. . . outspoken, is he?"

"Thank God he isn't."

"HEY! I'M THE LEADER, YOU SHOULDN'T BE MAKING FUN OF ME!"

"I have an idea, let's leave her here and see how long it takes her to get back on her own time. I'm sure Sally won't mind too much," said Anubis brightly. He waved cheerfully at Ria. "Have a good time!"

"Wait! Don't leave me here! I don't wanna be in this place all alone!" she whined.

Sage chuckled. "Things are sure going to be interesting from now on."


	60. Chapter Sixty-Epilogue

The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Sixty: Epilogue

(Cye)

We returned to Boston shortly after the fight. Anubis had explained to Sage that Flitterees had the ability to retract their wings into their backs and call them back out at will. It didn't take very long for Sage to master than skill and he was back to looking like the Sage we were all used to.

For a while, it seemed like things were getting back to normal. 

__

Another turning point  
A fork stuck in the road  
Time grabs you by the wrist

Directs you where to go

But things wouldn't be the same. For example, Kento was a lot more mature and serious than he had been before Trulpa kidnapped us. His room, which I would have normally expected to be covered in posters of women in bathing suits and sports teams, was actually very. . . neat. Very orange, but very neat. He'd gotten a lot of books on palmistry, tarot cards, and general fortune telling. His crystal ball was perched on a pillow on his main bureau next to a photo of Keisha and himself standing infront of the Charles River. 

__

So make the best of this test  
And don't ask why  
It's not a question  
But a lesson learned in time.

Speaking of the happy couple, Kento had asked Keisha if she'd like to have dinner with him a few hours after we got back. She gladly accepted and the two have been a steady couple since. It's kind of strange to see Kento dating. Back in Japan, Kento was very much into the single lifestyle. 

__

It's something unpredictable  
but in the end is right  
I hope you had  
the time of your life

Sage was also really different. He used to be very quiet and reserved, but he seemed to come out of his shell. Now he was a little more likely to go out someplace social like a mall and less likely to go someplace quiet like a museum of fine arts. He also seemed to be getting interested in sports outside of kendo. Previously, Sage had lived and breathed kendo. I didn't blame him, of course- he was actually very good at it.

__

So take the photographs  
and still frames in your mind  
Hang it on a shelf  
Of good health and good time

Cara was beginning to fit in, like I said earlier, but now she getting into hobbies. She started taking classes at Bunker Hill Community College dealing with photography. Cara fell in love with cameras. And toasters, too, but we'll concentrate on the cameras instead. She loves color and it shows if you walk into her room. She's got the loudest bedspread, wallpaper, and dresser I have ever seen. Sometimes if I look in there my eyes start to hurt and I get a headache. Mike's trying to convince her to switch to some easier on the eyes pastel tones. So far he hasn't had much luck.

__

Tattoos of memories  
and dead skin on trial  
For what it's worth  
It was worth all the while

As for me, well. . . things were a little. . . awkward. I hadn't really made myself at home yet. There wasn't much in my room except for a few changes of clothes, my bed, and my bureau. I guess part of it had to do with my father. For sixteen years I had wanted a father and never had one, and now that I did, I wasn't sure how I felt about it.

Anubis was acting the same way around me as well. He didn't know what to think about having a son. Especially one he didn't even have the slightest clue could have existed since he was drunk the night of my conception (which, surprisingly, hasn't really bothered me that much). We weren't talking much and whenever we tried to talk we were always interrupted by SOMETHING. Sue Lee wanting to show us a picture she drew, someone getting into an argument, one of the Senshi storming in unannounced (which happened a LOT), et cetera, et cetera. 

Mike came up with the perfect solution.

"You know, why don't you two move out of Grand Central Station and get an apartment?" he said one day after managing to get the two of us alone with him. This consisted of escorting us into his office and locking the door behind him.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, you're a father and a son who hardly know each other and need to get used to each other without a bunch of people constantly getting in your way," Mike explained. "So, I'll get you guys an apartment and until you guys can get jobs to support yourselves, I'll help you pay for it."

"You'd do that?" I asked. 

"Really?" asked Anubis.

"Of course I will!" said Mike. "What are friends for?"

We got a nice sized apartment overlooking the Charles River the next week. Two bedrooms, kitchen, living room, laundry room, full bathroom, all we needed. The story we used was somewhat amusing, since we couldn't say Anubis was my father because of his physical age. Basically, Anubis' parents had divorced when he was around two, then his mother moved to England and married again, having me. Then she and my father ended up getting caught in a drug bust and I was put into the care of my kind hearted Japanese American half-brother.

We still don't know how our land lady managed to buy it.

Despite our clueless landlady, the apartment did the trick. Sort of. I don't call him "Dad" or anything, and we're more like brothers with the way we act around each other. We get into the occasionally pillow fight and have video game tournaments (Him and that stupid JIGGLYPUFF always beat me and Captain Falcon in Super Smash Brothers- WHY!?). We're getting along pretty good. 

Sam and Sage, well, we all know they have some definitely electricity (no pun intended) between the two but neither one is ready to admit it. Both of them are too stubborn. Me and Sara? Still no clue. I don't think she has one either. Yeah, she's cute, but I'm not sure if I like her IN THAT WAY.

Kento says he saw us getting together in his crystal ball. Don't know if he was trying to play match maker or was telling the truth.

On top of all that, we've been trying to teach the girls some more advanced magic. Rona and Ria were on their own (we had the books but no experience with them for obvious reasons) while we took our respective partners in arms to some private lessons. Lords knows where Kento and Keisha's lesson ended, but I know that those two kept trying to set me and Sara and/or Sage and Sam up for romance. These plans usually didn't work, but they are clever. I'm still confused about the giant bunny doll plan, though. And the bag of marshmallows, though Sara said that she'd seen people stick them into the middle of licorice whips and have eating contests to get to the marshmallow, which usually ended in a kiss. I don't know if that was their intent, mainly because there wasn't any licorice.

School was coming up around the corner. We received information in the mail on supplies we'd need and some last-minute course selection sheets. Kento, Sage and I were declared juniors, putting us on equal grounds with Keisha and Rona and a year ahead of the other girls. The girls took this as excuse to go school shopping. Which meant we hit mainly clothing shops so they could play dress-up. It was amazing how much we brought back to Mike's house and my apartment. Anubis gave me a sympathetic smile and told me he'd gone through the same ordeal of being the Senshi's Ken doll.

There was only one thing that still hung over us. Would Trulpa attack again? Was she still strong enough to do that? Or would we face another villain? Who knew what was going happen next?

__

It's something unpredictable

But in the end is right  
I hope you had 

The time of your life. . .

~

Well, what did you think? Good? Bad? Somewhere in the middle? Leave a review and tell me already!

I just want to give credit where it's deserved. The songs, in order of appearance, are accredited to:

"Somewhere, Out There" was originally used the first _American Tale_ movie. Outside of the mice, it was sung by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingrahm. 

"Always" was sung by Atlantic Starr. It was written by Jonathan Lewis, David Lewis, and Wayne Lewis.

"Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" was sung by the Backstreet Boys. It was off of the _Millennium_ album.

"Toy Soldiers" was sung by Martika. It was one of the top singles in 1989.

"Good Riddance" was sung by Green Day. It was a very popular graduation song for the classes of 98' and 99'.

Stay tuned for the next story, which, sad to say, might not be out for a while. I'm changing a few things in this series. Anyone who visits my site regularly knows this.


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